All Pictures are at the bottom!
You know the saying Kill two birds with one stone, how about three birds with one stone.
1) Achieve the highest status on American Airlines
2) Refill my travel kitty (win some money playing poker)
3) Hang with the Donald.
As you know whenever I fly I try to pay the least amount for my ticket and get the best available seat. One of the ways I archive this is by keeping my status high on several different airlines. There are all kinds of tricks to accomplish this. I do not plan to disclose these tricks as that would make it harder for me to make status. The straight forward way to get status, is to fly and fly a lot.
One Airline that I fly often along with it's partners is American Airlines. I have been flying with them since August 11th, 1987 at least that is what my account says. Since that time I have flown 1,170,188 miles. There have been 10,358 days since August 11th, 1987. What this means is in the last 28 plus years I have flown about 113 miles a day, every day and that is just this one airline. Another way you can look at it is I have flown about 42,000 miles a year every year for the last 28 years on this one airline. Better yet, at the equator the earth is just under 25,000 miles around. In the last 28 years I have flown the equivalent of 47 times around the world.
Back to the birds and the stone. I needed a few thousand miles by the end of the year to keep my high
status and assure I fly first class on the cheap economy tickets I buy. I found out I could fly to Las Vegas for $200.00 round trip which would give me 5,000 base miles.
Just to clarify the 1,170,188 are actual miles flown, I have actual earned 2,629,167 miles during that
same 28 years, but many of those miles were bonus miles.
The first bird killed, archived my status on American Airlines!
What to do in Vegas, as I would only be on the ground for 36 hours I felt it would be a good opportunity to refill my travel kitty with some poker winnings. Playing poker in Vegas is like taking candy from a baby. Most of the players are tourist and they are simply playing for entertainment and not for a living. The key is finding the right table. Remember when you play poker you are not playing against the casino you are playing against the other players at your table. You do not need to be a good player, just better than the players at your table.
Second bird killed, won enough money for a few more years of traveling!
Why travel to Vegas on Tuesday December 15th, 2015. When can one have the opportunity to meet 15 politicians at one time. Yes, the republican debate was happening in Vegas. Luckily by winning at poker I was moved into the VIP section of the hotel and got invited to see part of the debate. Why just part, not to get to political but the debate reminded of a KKK meeting and a quote from Mark Twin. "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime." I think a few of the candidates in the debate need to travel more. I was getting sick watching the debate so I decided to leave.
Third bird killed, saw the Donald!
I forgot to mention Chuata, Nami also joined me on the trip. All for the same reasons, though Nami is
working on 2,000,000 base miles.
In all the times we have been to Las Vegas we had never visited the Carroll Shelby Manufacturing center and Museum. This is where both Mustang Shelby's and Ford 150 Raptures are converted into true Shelby machines. Also there is a complete history of the evolution of the Shelby. Well worth seeing.
Next stop Tuscon!!!
Traveling the world has a few perks, one of those perks, you get to me important people, at least important to me. Like Wilson R. Catz, you do not know who Wilson Catz is? He is the son of Mr. Catz the CEO of Vail Resorts. Vail Resorts, happens to own Breckenridge Ski Resorts, more on that
later.
I had not planned on skiing this year. I was down on skiing, only made it out once last year and the snow was not great. That all changed, Colorado was getting record snow fall for this early in the season, early December. Gary Nolan had never been skiing out west, and now had the life of leisure it was time for him to start learning what it is like to do NOTHING, all day. Big Ed is a recent member of the homeless and I always like to do some charity work, so why not help Big Ed get a roof over his head for a few days.
We decided to stay at my brother's and sister in-law's place for this trip, the price is right, plus we got to attended fat camp everyday before skiing.
I called in a favor, I had meet Wilson while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, he was heading down, I was heading up. We talked about our hobbies which included skiing, he said if I was every at a Vail owned resort give him a buzz and he would get us free lift tickets. Lift tickets are $128 a piece for Breckenridge, which made this favor worth about $384.00.
True to his word when we arrived at Breckenridge, not only did we get lift tickets we had concierge ski bunnies. This was a service I had never heard of, on our arrival they gave us each a walky-talky, they told us if we needed anything, just call and a concierge ski bunny would take care of it. We found this hard to believe, so after our first run we got on the radio and asked if we could get some hot chocolate. Guess what, when we got to the top of the lift there were three ski bunnies each with a piping hot mug of hot
chocolate, whip cream and all. Ski Bunnies aside, the conditions were great and we had a blast. Gary did not want to leave, not sure if it was the ski bunnies or the ski slopes, we had to explained the lifts were closed, the only way to ski was to hike the mountain, and the ski bunnies were off the clock, thus no longer had any interest in us.
When we got back to the house Sue had dinner already for us. I am not sure which tired us out more fat camp training or skiing, but after dinner we all hit the sack as fat camp would be starting at 5:00 AM.
After fat camp and some breakfast we headed out to ski Copper Mountain, there would be no free lift tickets or ski bunnies, but we heard the conditions on Copper were even better than Breckenridge. The rumors were true another great day of skiing. This time Gary left with us voluntarily, I think he was starting to realize skiing Colorado requires pacing yourself, compared to east coast skiing.
Dinner tonight was at Revival Brews in downtown Evergreen, the food was great and so was the assortment of beers.
Today would be our last day of both Fat Camp and Skiing, 5:00 AM role call. We decided to ski
Winter Park to give Gary his third ski resort in as many days. Winter Park was rumored to have the most snow. We started out skiing the Mary Jane section of the mountain and were very disappointed. Not much snow and plenty of ice. After a few frustrating run we headed to the North side of the mountain and found some great runs. What a way to end a great three day ski trip, and did I mention most of the time we had the entire resorts to ourselves. Ski Tuesday - Thursday, early December, great condition and the entire resort to yourselves. What else could you want!
Next week on to Las Vegas for the next Republican Presidential debate.
Yes, Heather and I have now done all four of the Trenton Half Marathons, 26 to go (in about 26 years you will figure out what that means). This years race was our slowest and fastest race to date.
How can that be, keep reading and you will find out. Since 2012 Heather and I have been running the Trenton Half Marathon. I know most of you are avid readers of LifeOfDUG, but if you happen to be a new reader, you might enjoy reading about our past Trenton Half Marathon races.
How could we run our fastest and slowest race in the same race? First a recap of past years. Here are
our times.
2012 - 1:45:33
2013 - 1:52:44
2014 - 1:58:29
As you can see we had slowed by over 6 minutes each year. If we were going to keep this trend up we would be walking rather then running the Trenton Half Marathon. It was decided after the 2014 Trenton Half Marathon we would run 5 minutes faster each year until we got back to our 2012 time.
I know I still have not answered the question, Fastest and Slowest in the same race?
This year we ran on the A Love for Life Team. We had over 30 runners on our team many placing in
their age groups. One of the runners Tyler, who happens to be the son of Shriek and Elle had a goal of running at a pace of under 8:00 minute miles. Being 17 and on the cross country team, some might think that time was very doable, but remember Tyler had only run ten miles once (in his life) and that was the furthest he ever ran. 13.1 miles is another 30% further.
I know, I know, what about the fastest and slowest race? I am getting to that.
Heather has a lot on her plate and was not able to train as she had planned, as we got closer to race day she felt like she was going to hold us back. While the best part of running Trenton for me, is running with Heather, she said I was taking some of the enjoyment out of the race with the pressure to run faster without the time to train, so she pawned me off on Tyler. OK, OK, I am getting to that answer.
I asked Tyler if I could run with him and he reluctantly agreed, what 17 year old speedster, wants to run with some old man.
Mile 1 - 7:43
Mile 2 - 7:48
Mile 3 - 7:41
We were both felling fine, but I could tell, Tyler had plenty of gas left and I was close to max as far as speed was concerned
Mile 4 - 7:48
Mile 5 - 7:46
Mile 6 - 7:52
I was slowing Tyler down, so I pushed him to go ahead, which he did, but he stayed in eye sight.
Mile 7 - 7:54
Mile 8 - 7:57
Slowly slowing down
Mile 9 - 8:13
The HILL - went for my last GU, as I pulled it out of my pocket I see Tyler and he says, "Can I have one of your GU's?" Of course I give him my last GU. That was the last I saw of my GU and of Tyler.
Mile 10 - 8:01
Mile 11 - 7:59
Mile 12 - 8:00
Mile 13 - 8:02
Last .1 - 7:31 Pace
Total time 1:44:08 Almost a minute and 30 seconds faster then my fastest Trenton Half Marathon 4 years ago. Oh, and Tyler, he finished a good 4 minutes ahead of me. Making up all that time in the last 3 miles, like I said I was holding him back.
That is half the answer to the fastest slowest race.
Heather? She did great considering her training with a time of 2:00:10 about a minute and a half
slower then last year. Our slowest time. Thus the slowest and fastest race yet!
The good news we wanted to each take 5 minutes off last years time for a total of 10 minutes faster.
Last year we both did 1:58:29 x 2 = 3:56:58
This year I did 1:44:06 and Heather did 2:00:10 = 3:44:16, which means we took 12 minutes and 42 seconds off our 2014 time. Much better than our goal of 10 minutes.
Enjoy the Pictures and video.
It is getting cold around here so I think I will head south.
Our last trip to Canyon Ranch back in March was a little short, lucky for us Chephart Yosh invited us
for another visit. This time not only did Chephart Yosh invite us to Canyon Ranch she also invited us to her cabin in the Mountains at Hidden Meadow Ranch. Yep double the fun with two ranches in one.
Canyon Ranch was as great as ever, we had three full days or working out and beating the you know what our of ourselves. For whatever reason I will never know. They had a new piece of equipment called move strong it was like a jungle gym for adults. I had a blast playing around on it.
On Saturday we started our trek to the mountains. Or should I say our drive. Hidden Meadow Ranch is 5 hours out side Tucson at an elevation of 8,600 feet, I love altitude. Friends of Chephart Yosh that were visiting from Germany will be joining us. Gudon who is a world famous explorer and Reinhart who is a world famous physicist, in fact Reinhart worked on the Manhattan project. We drove in separate cars as Gudon and Reinhart had to return early.
Hidden Meadow Ranch is located in Geer, AZ not to far from the New Mexico boarder. The drive is breath taking, most of it is on windy state road crossing through the Salt Canyon. You climb
from 3,000 feet to over 8,500 feet during the drive.
Chephart Yosh had describe her place as a cabin, not so much, more like a beautiful log cabin home. Everything was just perfect. Hidden Meadow Ranch is staffed by world renowned chef John. He made us a beautiful dinner, which was perfect after the long drive.
After a great nights sleep we decided to just vegg out and relax after a few days of working out. We did go for a 5 mile run, while Gudon and Reinhart went on a short hike that turned into a long hike, they planed on an hour and were gone
closer to three. We never got the real story on what these two love birds were up to.
In the afternoon we all took a short hike to get the lay of the land and enjoy a beautiful sunset. Chephart Yosh made us a fantastic dinner and then off to bed. Tomorrow we had a fun adventure planned.
Hidden Meadow Ranch offers horse back riding and Mountain Bike riding. We opted for the mountain bikes. Our plan was to do a nice easy Mountain Bike ride. What is the saying, best laid plans. On our run we really did not feel the effect of the altitude except on uphill sections. This was a
happy surprise.
The goal today, was a nice easy ride without many hills. As we left the ranch we took a dirt road that I thought would hit the state road and then we could double back to the main road we arrived in on, which was relatively flat.
Our ride started out flat and quickly turned into a steep down hill. I think I went close to 5 miles without having to peddle, gravity can be a great thing. After about 12 miles we reached the state road, I went right and Margarite went left. Not good! We each had a different thought on how to get back to the cabin. We decided to go left, which
worked out great until we saw that we were heading into New Mexico and the road was going straight up hill. We made a quick U turn past our dirt road and on our way back to the cabin. Second thoughts kicked in when we started heading up another steep hill. With no certain idea how to get back except going back the way we came, we made another U turn and retraced our steps back to the dirt road.
Once on the dirt road we realized not only was the ride out downhill we had the wind to our backs. As we made the right turn onto the dirt road the wind hit us like a ton of bricks. My guess 20 miles per hour with gusts even stronger. We did not know it, but would later find out we had descended over 2,000 feet, from over 8,500 feet to just under 6,500 feet. The ride out about 30 minutes, the ride back 2 hours (gravity sucks). So much for an easy ride.
Shower, Nap, Dinner, and a day we called it.
Today we will be heading back to Tucson as we have an early flight out the next day. The ride back
was as beautiful as the ride out, except a few torrential rain showers. Another great dinner prepared for by Chephart Yosh and off to bed for our 4:00 AM wake up call.
What a great weekend, it has been a few year since I had been sailing so when Shrek invited me to join him for a celebration sail, how could I say no. What were we celebrating? Shrek and his mate Bill had just qualified for the Americas Cup Race. Yes I was about to go out sailing with two world renowned captains. I had no idea what being a famous Captain walking around Annapolis, Maryland is like. Think of being a famous movies star or famous athlete anywhere else in the world. Everybody wanted their pictures taken with Shrek. Being the cameraman and video man I was kept busy all night.
Rather then me going on and on, just watch the video and you will see what I mean about the sailing groupies. Oh, and one other thing, for some reason Shrek had heard Annapolis has great hamburgers so another part of our mission was to find the bar that had the best burger. We later found out Shrek had gotten the story wrong, it was Memphis not Annapolis and it was barbeque not hamburgers. Enjoy the Video (below).
Between June of 1979 and September of 1981 I visited almost every National Park, most National Forest, and many of the designated National Landmarks in the continuous United States via a Motorcycle. That was well over 30 years ago. Over the last few years I have been in the process of
revisiting a lot of those sites.
This trip included Crater Lake, and Mount Hood, Crater Lake being a National Park, Mount Hood being a National Forest as well as the Timberline Lodge being a National Historic Landmark.
This trip was focused around biking and hiking. Margarite and I flew into Seattle Airport, while certainly not the closest airport to where we were headed one of the most flexible in terms of flight schedules. We also planned to use this trip to visit and actually meet some friends, Rob and Jean Wilson. I had met Rob through a referral when I was investigating climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. Rob and I had spoken and emailed quite a bit over the last few years. Rob and Jean live in Portland so we decided to take this opportunity to actually meet face to face.
It had been many years since I had been to Portland, the last time was for a salmon fishing trip, maybe 15 or 20 years ago. While the city had not changed much, the downtown area seemed dirtier than I remembered and the homeless population seemed to out number any other demographic in the downtown area. Most of the homeless seemed very young, early 20's. If I were to make a guess most of the homeless where actually rich kids trying to prove to their parents that they did not need their parents' money. Why did I think this? Maybe since most if not all had the latest I phones, while all appeared to be dirty and unkempt it was more like makeup and hair style, then from not washing for days or weeks at a time. It was like watching a scene from a movie about the homeless, where you
knew the actors could go home anytime they wanted to.
Rob and Jean had us to their house for a fantastic lunch. They gave us some great suggestions on what to see and how to get there while we were visiting Oregon. There first suggestion was to take 84 east through the Hood River Gorge, what a beautiful drive, stopping along the way to take in the breadth taking views as well as the many water falls.
We were hoping to overnight in the town of Hood River, but being a Saturday evening every decent hotel was sold out. We continued on and stayed at the Country Cousin's Inn in The Dalles, what a great place, true middle America.
Today we will be driving to Crater Lake, we do have concerns, there are record forest fire in this part of the country, causing many of the routes we would like to take to be closed due to smoke and or fire.
Our first stop on our way to Crater Lake is Bend Oregon. We had rented two road bikes from Sunnyside Sports, while they did a great job of providing the bikes, I would say they are not the sharpest knifes in the draw when it comes to helping their customers.
After a nice lunch at The Drake in Bend, Oregon, we headed south towards Crater Lake, the fires were getting closer, we knew highway 230 was closed, we continued hoping that highway 138 (the
north entrance) would stay open, otherwise we would have an additional 2 hours of driving.
As we got closer and closer to Crater Lake the smoke got thicker and thicker. As we entered the park we were told we would be one of the last cars allowed to enter as the north entrance would be closing due to fire.
The smoke continued to thicken, it was as if we were driving through a fog bank. As we rose out of the valley and gained elevation we left the smoke behind arriving at the Lodge at 4:00 PM, once checked in, we headed south to meet up with Ross and Sue who would be joining us for the week. They had made reservations about 30 minutes south of the park at Becky's Cafe. Becky's is famous for its down home country cooking.
It had been a long day so we decided to call it a night and hit the sack. Whenever I visit a National Park I am always impressed with both the parks and the lodges. It is important to remember that most of the National Parks, and the Lodges were built during the depression as part of the New Deal, known as the Work Program Act (WPA). Remember during the Great Depression there was no unemployment insurance. Rather than have the Government just give money away, they created the WPA, which created jobs, but more importantly these were jobs that created national treasures for future generations. Not to get political, but in my opinion a WPA type program is far more productive than unemployment insurance.
We had planned to bike the Rim of Crater Lake departing at 6:30 AM. The weather was perfect, the air a little smoky, clouding what would have been pristine views. The ride was just 35 miles of some great climbs and fantastic downhill's, while at the same time viewing beautiful landscapes. After the ride and a very hardy breakfast / Lunch we took an afternoon hike to one of the high ridges that over looked the Crater Lake.
We were just spending two nights at Crater Lake so we decided to take the boat tour on our second
day before heading back to Bend. The tour was well worth the $40.00 fee giving us a different perspective of the lake, and also a lot of facts and history. Such facts as Crater Lake is both the deepest and clearest lake in the country.
With the North Entrance closed we had to exit the park through the south entrance adding a few hours to our drive. We had rented a house through airbnb.com. This would be our first disappointment using airbnb.com. We had booked a very nice house a few months back, but just a few weeks prior to our trip the homeowner canceled claiming the house had a flood. There was no compensation to us for this inconvenience, which shocked me. The reason this shocked me was if we had canceled we would have been billed the entire rent.
At this point we had to scramble to find a house. The selection was limited, the house we picked had a great location and no other redeeming qualities.
We spent the next few days biking and hiking. What a beautiful area for both of these activities. The weather was picture perfect both in the early mornings and late afternoons with the heat building during the day. Ross did some great planning for the bike rides, never a bad one.
The restaurants in Bend were all fantastic, I need to mention one, Spork on Newport Road. It is in a strip mall, and you would think twice about stopping in, it looks as if it is just some fast food restaurant, but that could not be further from the
truth. The food was all farm to table and freshly made. Do not pass this place up.
After Bend we headed back to Seattle by way of Mt. Hood and Portland. Mt Hood was similar to what I remembered from my visit over 32 years ago. Except this time the mountain was not fogged in, but smoked in, and instead of snow there was dirt.
Thirty two years ago in July there were several feet of snow in the parking lot and on the mountain. The snow combined with the warm air created a dense fog. Today just smoke and fires. Climate change or something else?
I gave Margarite a tour of the Timberline Lodge another WPA project. What a beautiful place.
We stayed at the Monaco Kimpton in Downtown Portland, a very beautiful hotel in a very dirty grimy city. We took the underground tour of Portland, well worth the $20.00 fee, learning a lot about the history of this port city.
Our last day would involve the drive back to Seattle and a visit with Z checking out his new condo and seeing some of the sites of Seattle.
On the road again 45 minute train to the NewarkAirport
- 7 hour flight to Paris - 7 hour layover in Paris - 12 hour flight to Mauritius - 1 hour drive to our
bungalow. Counting the 7 hour layover in Paris
that is 27 hours and 45 minutes of train, planes, and automobile.
We left at 2:30 PM EST and arrive at our bungalow called
Charmant Bungalow, at 8:00 AM Mauritius
time 2 days later, Yep we left on the 27th of April and arrived on the 29th of
April.
We booked our flight through Air France
but we actually flew Delta Airlines from Newark,
New Jersey to Paris, France.
This was a 7 hour flight. It has been years, about 20, since I had flown on
Delta, and I hope it will be another 20 before I fly on them again. Oh, wait I
fly on them on my return, I guess it will be 30 or so days before I fly on
Delta Airlines again, not 20 years.
For an international flight the service was sub-par.
Unfortunately business class was full so I could not move forward.
We enjoyed our 7 hours in the Charles de Gaulle airport. I
think I know ever nook and cranny at this point.
Our second flight was also listed as an Air France flight,
but it was on Air Mauritius.
I tried to move into business class, but the Air France seat map was not
accurate so I had no idea what business class seats were available. I was not
looking forward to being in the back of the bus for 12 hours. I found a very
nice gate agent that blocked 4 economy seats for the two of us, so we would be
able to lay down for some of the 12 hours.
The reviews I read about Air Mauritius
set my expectations rather low, I would say Air Mauritius exceeded my expectations
on all accounts. The plane was clean, comfortable, the food was decent and the
flight attendants were very nice and helpful. Plus the gate agent gave us four
seats for the price of two. We took off right on time and landed about 30
minutes early.
With one leg down, I was happy with the flights, the round
trip cost just over $1,000 USD by booking through Air France, a
savings of $2,000 USD per ticket compared to booking through the carrier
airline. One day I would love to understand how airlines come up with their
pricing.
Why Mauritius?
That is a good question! To make a long story short, it was decided last year
(by vote) that Madagascar
was on the list for 2015, since I was going to Madagascar
it was suggested I visit the island country of Reunion (really a commonwealth
of France) off the east coast of Madagascar.
It ends up the best way to get to Madagascar if you plan to go to Reunion is by
going through the island country of Mauritius also off the east coast of
Madagascar.
We had booked a private day tour of southern Mauritius for
9:30 AM the morning we arrived. We Taxi Mauritius. As soon as we arrived at our bungalow we showered and
got ready for the tour. Our guide was right on time. Here is what we cover on
our tour.
booked through
The Ship Model Factory - while clearly a tourist attraction,
it was an interesting place. We start the tour watching the craftsmen create
tiny authentic replicas of many different types of ships. From historical
sailing cutters to current day ships like the Queen Elizabeth II. All the ships
are built by hand, most made from teak imported from Mozambique. The sails were hand
threaded the detail was unbelievable.
After the tour you find yourself in a gift shop where there is some
slight pressure to purchase a replica ship. A worth while attraction as long as
you understand it is designed to be a tourist trap.
The Crater of Trou aux Cerfs Curepipe - from the Ship Factory we drove to the
crater. This crater is a dormant volcano. From the crater you can look down on
the city of Curepipe.
The center of the crater is green and lush, the plant life is very vibrant with
the rich soil, and plenty of both rain and sunlight.
Mare aux VacoasLake - next we drove by VacoasLake,
while this lake is a natural lake it is also the main water source for most of
the island. Situated at higher elevation, aqueducts were built to move the
water via gravity to the larger population areas along the coastal cities.
HolyLakeGrandBassinHinduTemple - Mauritius has three main religions,
Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. All live in harmony and many intermarry. In fact
our guide who is Muslim is married to a Hindu women. We visited the largest HinduTemple
situated on a smal lake. Prior to getting to the lake you pass by a huge 60
meter high statue of a Hindu god (they have many gods). Each year there is a
pilgrimage to the temple where over 500,000 people walk from the lower
lying cities up to the HinduTemple
passing by the statue. The road we drove on was extremely wide about 4 times
the width of other roads on the island, this is to accommodate the pilgrimage.
The Temple has
statues of many of the different Hindu gods. These gods/statues are very
elaborate.
Black River Gorge (view point) - we stopped at the overlook,
depending on our schedule we may come back here for some hiking. From the
overlook we could see down into the gorge. Like the
crater it was lush with
plant life as well as a small water fall.
Lunch - we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant the guide
picked. We both picked Creole dishes as this is a local food. I had the fish Creole
and Margarite had the seafood Creole.
After lunch we had one stop left with two sites. The place
is called Chameral it is privately owned. The first stop was the Chamarel Waterfall
and the second stop was Chamarel seven-colored earth. The second stop was
unique, the soil has different volcanic minerals given different sections
different colors. Some people say it is as if you have left earth and are on a
different planet.
After seeing the sites, we took the coast road back, which
was similar to our ride from the airport to our bungalow, we had taken several
hours earlier. Mauritius
at one point was a British Colony, thus driving is done on the left side of the
road.
When we returned to our bungalow we had time to relax and
enjoy the gorgeous place we had rented. The bungalow sits up the hill from the
main residence, very modern architecture over looking the Indian
Ocean. The main house had a pool which we had use of.
We have been booking our stays through Airbnb.com for two
years now, this as our 7th booking.
While usually less expensive than hotels,
always more comfortable, and many ways unique. This place was no different. We
were greeted by our host Sylvie with fresh cool fruit juice on our arrival.
With landing so early in the morning Sylvie & Philippe worked with us
allowing us to come right from the airport to the bungalow. The pictures on the
Internet do not do this place justice. The bungalow is set up on a hill from
the main house. The deck is well furnished and faces west giving great sunset
views. The bedroom has plenty of room to store all your belongs so you can
unpack and feel more like a resident and less like a traveler. The kitchen is
well outfitted for small meals, with a hot plate that must have been nuclear
powered, I have never seen a pot of water boil so fast. There is a microwave
that I think is also an oven. All the furnishings are beautifully done. The
bathroom is roomy and the shower has great water pressure.
We used the pool on our arrival day, what a way to refresh
after a long day of sight seeing. Towels for the bathroom as well as beach
towels for the pool were provided.
We decided to stock the kitchen with snacks and breakfast
foods. Sylvie & Philippe listed places to eat (restaurants) as well as
where to shop including driving and walking maps. We walked to the grocery, London Way about a
ten minute walk. If you rather bike, there are two mountain bikes available for
use including a lock.
One thing that was provided that we never had before was
daily maid service, yes everyday!
We highly recommended staying with Sylvie & Philippe if
you are visiting Mauritius.
After our walk to the grocery we took a quick swim.
Finally at 7:00 PM we let our bodies lay in bed and slept
until 8:00 AM the next morning a full 13 hours of much needed sleep.
Day 2 -
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden was
the main attraction for the day. If we had time we would add other activities.
We did not leave the bungalow until 10:00 AM this was a late start for us.
Traffic was unreal, bumper to bumper for miles. We arrived at the gardens at
12:30 PM. What I thought would take at most 45 minutes took 2.5 hours. We hired
a private guide to take us through the gardens, well worth the 500 rupee. The
tour of the gardens lasted about 2 hours.
We learned a lot of history of the gardens, how most of the
plants were brought to Mauritius
from other parts of the world and very few plants in the gardens were indigenes
to the island. The gardens are the oldest botanical gardens in the Southern
Hemisphere.
After spending a few hours at the gardens we headed to Port Louis for some
lunch. Port Louis is the Mauritius. Once
we arrived we found most restaurants close from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM. 7:00 PM
is when they reopen for dinner. It was now 4:00 PM so no lunch for us. We
walked a little through the capital nothing really caught our interest so we
headed back to the bungalow hitting traffic again.
capital of
We had woke up to rain, which was light for our drive to the
gardens. The rain stopped while we tour the gardens. The rains returned as we
drove back to the bungalow sometimes torrential down pours, thus making the
drive that much more challenging. I have driven on the left side of the road with
right side driver configuration plenty of times, add in lots of traffic, motor
scooters buzzing you like bees, narrow windy roads, and rain so hard the wipers
can not keep up, made for a fun afternoon drive.
We found a great place for dinner Restaurant La Bonne Chute we arrived at 6:30PM, they did not serve dinner until 7:00PM so we had a drink
at the bar as we waited.
Dinner was excellent, I had the wild boar and Margarite had
the fish Creole both local Mauritian dishes. We both had banana flambé for
dessert.
After dinner it was off to bed for another great nights
sleep, we had adjusted well to the 8 hour time change.
Day 3 -
Today the plan was to go to a Bois Cheri Tea Factory and the Biscuit Factory. We did go to both,
but they were closed due to the national holiday - Labor Day. We still got to
visit the BoiseCheriTeaMuseum and do a tea tasting. At the
museum they had a video of the factory tour so we do not feel like we missed
much. After the Tea Factory, we visited the original capital and port city
which is now more a fishing port. The waterfront was not that well protected
from a strategic standpoint, that is why the main port and capital was moved to
Port Louis. We
had lunch at a nice restaurant along the water, we both had Dorado prepared Creole
style served with rice.
After lunch we went in search of the Biscuit Factory. You
might say, "Why visit a biscuit factory?". We had heard this biscuit factory is unique
in that the biscuits are made from vegetables rather than flour. Also the
factory is rich in history spanning over four generations. Unfortunately we did
not learn about the way the biscuits are made or the history of these special
biscuits, as the factory was closed. The factory was north of town, rather then
back track, we decided to take back roads home. What a beautiful drive along
tree lined roads cut through the sugar cane fields.
We returned back to the bungalow just in time for a beautiful
sunset. We decided on a light dinner of snacks, we were both full from lunch,
plus we
would be leaving in the morning and did not want to throw any food away.
Before turning in we said our good byes to Sylvie & Philippe as we would be
departing early (before they would wake) in the morning for our flights onward.
Day 4 -
We had rented our car from Pingouin Car Rental. I have always rented from a world wide
brand. Hertz, National, Avis, Budget, never a local company. In all our travels
I have had issues with Hertz in Turkey
and National in Scotland.
Pingouin Car Rental offered far better rates and better car types than the
world wide brands and their web site had great references as well as the positive
reviews on trip adviser, I decided to take a chance. When you book you pay a
20% non-refundable deposit (about $20.00 USD), booking through their website
was easy and painless. After you book you get a personal email that you will be
met upon your arrival by an agent with a sign with your name on it. Sounds
simple. It worked like a charm, our agent walked us to the car which was curb
side, filled out the contract, took our payment (credit card), and we were off.
He told us he would meet us at the same place upon our return.
We pulled in at 6:50 AM ten minutes ahead of schedule our
agent was waiting for us, he took our
keys and we were on our way. What a great
way to rent a car, no waiting and no hassle, great service and a great price.
To get from Mauritius
to Madagascar
there are several options. There were two options that would work for us from a
scheduling standpoint. The first, which seemed to make sense was an Air
Madagascar direct flight from Mauritius
to Antananarivo, Madagascar,
the capital of Madagascar,
about a 2 hour flight. The second option which is the one we took, Air Austral
from Mauritius to Reunion, a 45 minute flight, then a one hour layover in
Reunion, before continuing on to Antananarivo. The total travel time 3 hours 55
minutes. Why did we pick what we picked?
When you read reviews about Air Madagascar the most positive thing
you read is that they will eventually get you to your destination, when you
will get there, is the big question. The flight schedules change and are very
inconsistent. We were not willing to take the risk of being delayed at this
time. While in Madagascar we
will be forced to use Air Madagascar
and understand the risk.
As I write this section I am on our second Air Austra
flight, so far so good, it looks like we will land in Madagascar on
time.
Everything went smoothly with our transit to Madagascar. One thing I will never understand is why the
immigrations officer always asked where you will be staying. They do not verify, they just ask. This time
I just made up a name to see what they would say. I said the MadagascarMandarinPalace on Main Street. The
officer wrote down what I said stamped my passport and waved me on. Just an FYI
there is no MadagascarMandarinPalace
on Main Street
in Madagascar.
In fact there is no MadagascarMandarinPalace
on any street in Madagascar.
We were greeted by Derik as soon as we passed through
customs. Derik works for Cactus Tours and will be our guide for today and
tomorrow. The logistics for touring Madagascar is not very straight
forward, much of the transport is unreliable and the roads are many times
unusable. For those reason we decided to do a little more planning for this
trip than we have done for others.
Luckily my good friend Rakava works for one of the top tour
companies in Madagascar,
Cactus Tours of Madagascar. I met Rakava
about a year ago while trolling on the Internet. I am hoping we will get to
meet face to face while in country.
Derik dropped us off at our hotel after a one hour drive to
go 16 kilometers, welcome to Africa. Like I
said the transport is sketchy at best. We had a great lunch at our hotel
restaurant. We are staying at Sakamanga Hotel. Ravaka
booked us the three room honeymoon suite, what a great room. From the front, the
hotel it does not look like much, in fact you might say it looks a little shady,
but once through the doors, you are in an oasis from the city.
Derik return after lunch to take us on a brief city tour of Antananarivo many times
referred to as
Tana. The main part, center of the city is built on a hill about
3.000 feet above sea level. There are 3,000,000 people living in Tana and the
surrounding area. From driving around my guess is half the three million people
are children and most are out and about today.
Just below the hill, there is a lake shaped like a heart, in
the center of Tana,. From the top of the hill we could get a great sense of the
entire area. On the top there are two buildings a few hundred yards apart. One
was the Queens Place
which had been damaged by a severe fire. The other is now a museum but was
originally the Prime minister's Palace. We
decided to visit the museum as we would learn more about the history of Madagascar.
It ended up that the museum was closed for renovations, but
Derik knew someone that knew someone, that got us in and gave us a tour. There
were only two rooms we could visit and most of the items in these room had come
from the QueensPalace after the fire.
We learned an interesting story about circumcision. As in
most of Africa, circumcision of young boys, is
a big deal. In Madagascar,
there is a ceremony usually in the summer months, this ceremony may only happen
once every 7 years depending on the tribe.
A child is usually circumcised between the age of 2 and 7, though some
boys are as old as 21 when they get circumcised. The ceremony is done as a
village or tribal ceremony and many boys will be circumcised at one time. If
you have a grandson you may want to skip the next part. The maternal
grandfather must eat the foreskin of their grandchild or the grandchild is not
allowed to be buried in the family grave site when he passes. If you are still
reading, the ironic part is the foreskin is served with a banana. This is a
true custom and is still practiced today in Madagascar.
Another history lesson we got, had to do with twins and why
baby twins are killed at birth. Historically in Madagascar when one tribe attacked
another, the winning tribe would take the land of the losing tribe and the
losing tribe would become slaves to the winning tribe.
As the story goes, one tribe lost, and rather then become
the slaves all the people in the tribe hid far away. Everybody except one women
who had twin boys, caring for the twins made it to hard to hide. This women was
captured, and then told the attackers where her tribe was hiding. From that
point on twins were considered bad luck and were killed. This practice is still
practiced today with the exception when the church can intervene they convince
the mother to give the twins to the orphanage so the can be adopted off the
island, true story.
After our tour Derik dropped us back at Sakamanga Hotel,
Ravaka would be meeting us at 6:00 PM to review our travel schedule for the
remainder of our time in Madagascar.
It was now five so we had an hour to relax, I was excited to meet Ravaka.
At 6:00PM sharp our phone rang it was Ravaka letting us know
she was in the lobby waiting for us. Rakava was much younger than I expected
maybe 21 or 22. She really knew Madagascar
I can attest to that based on the trip she set up for us. We went through our
itinerary. There were only two changes the first instead of canoeing we would
be taking a motor boat. Ravaka told us this change was for security reason. We
did not ask anymore then that. Sometimes it is better to just not know,
ignorance is bliss. The other change was Air Madagascar had canceled one of our
flights. We had to move things around to fly out a day earlier. We knew this
might happen when we planned the trip, Ravaka did a great job of
re-accommodating us.
After our briefing Margarite and I went for dinner. We ate
again at Sakamanga Hotel restaurant. I had
crystallized tomato with feta cheese as my appetizer and Shish
Kabab as my main, which consisted of
beef, chicken and pork as well as onions, potatoes, and peppers. It was
excellent the only issue, it was enough food for two. Maragrite had two
appetizers. The first was an avocado stuffed with shrimp and the second was
Foie Gras which the restaurant is known for. Both were excellent. A rather
large thunder storm accompanied by a torrential down pour blew through Tana
while we were enjoying our meal. The storm caused the power to go on and off
several times. Sometimes for as long as ten minutes. Clearly by how the staff
never missed a beat this was a fairly common occurrence. Candles were quickly
deployed and the dinners and staff continued on, the power on or off it did not
matter.
Tomorrow breakfast is at 6:00AM and we depart at 7:00AM so
it is an early night tonight.
Day 5- 03MAY15: Antananarivo – Miandrivazo
We are heading westwards to Miandrivazo for an eight hour
drive throughout the savannah, eroded landscapes, and typical Madagascar villages. We start off
heading south on the N7 out of Tana passing through many small villages. With
it being a Sunday, it is market day for many of the villages. Goods from pigs
to fabrics are being sold on the streets. Also a lot of church goers in their
Sunday bests. As we continue South we pass through Ambatolampy which is the
coldest city in Madagascar,
due to it's high altitude. Finally on our Southbound trek we reach Antsirabe,
which is the second largest city in Madagascar just behind Tana. It is
home to a lot of industries including textile and beer, the first brewery in Madagascar was
started in Antsirabe. We stop here at a charming cafe/pizzeria for lunch, before taking the 34 west. We were about half way to our destination
which is the town of Miandrivazo.
As we left Antsirabe we took N 34 due West. It was now 1:00PM we had been
traveling for five and a half hours.
The N 34 was a much better road than the N 7. Not as big a
road, less traveled and much smoother. We stopped to stretch our legs at Mandoto
to buy some water and stretch our legs. We were now coming out of the highlands
and as we descended in elevation the temperatures climbed. With about 74
kilometers to go the road started to have pot holes that size of craters you might
expect to see on the moon. This slowed our progress significantly. We finally
hit Miandrivazo at 5:00 PM nine and a half
hours after we left Tana. Our first stop was the police station. We needed to
register and get our permits for our up coming boat ride. Once that was
complete Derik and Mamy dropped us off at the
Princesse Tsiribihina.
I forgot to mention, Mamy was introduced to us in Tana and
will be our guide, Derik is our driver and Mamy our guide.
When you are traveling off the grid you need to set your
expectations correctly. We did, and the Princess exceeded them. The room, small
but clean and pleasant. With limited power generation the
hotel only has
electricity from 6:00 PM until 10:00 PM.
Once settled we took a nice refreshing swim and then
showered and got ready for dinner.
While today's drive was long and sometime tedious I feel it
was well worth it. We got a nice overview of the mid-southern interior
landscape of Madagascar
almost bisecting the entire country. One thing that was clear is the Polynesian
genetics has a remarkable influence on the look of the Madagascar
people.
Day 6: 04MAY15: Miandrivazo – Sahambano
We were to start a 3 day canoe trip today. We were told for
security reasons we would be switched to a power boat instead. This was a
disappointment as we were looking forward to the 3 day workout (Paddling a
Canoe).
Madagascar Boat Trip
We left the hotel at 7:30 AM for about a one hours drive to
the small village where we would catch the boat. The last 10 kilometers took
the bulk of the drive time. The road and I use the term "road", very
lousily, was more of a dry creek bed, with more sand traps and divots, than
most golf courses.
Once at the village we were greeted by many little kids that
wanted their photos taken, we obliged
their requests. We found out the local
school is over crowded so half the kids go to school in the morning and half in
the afternoon.
While we waited we saw a few people depart in the dug out
canoes that we had planned to take. Our disappointment turned to joy when we
realized the passengers do not get to paddle, they just sit there and look pretty.
Once we saw the boat we would be taking, we went from joyful
to ecstatic. For Madagascar
standards we would be traveling like an Egyptian King and Queen, cruising the Nile.
When we were told our trip had changed due to security
reasons we assumed the rebels were at it again. In reality Ravaka had upgraded
us and wanted it to be a surprise.
As we departed, all the children wished as a Bon Voyage .
The river was a muddy brown, which was caused by the fast current as the rainy
season had recently ended. In October after the dry season the river is much
slower and crystal clear.
As we headed south along the MahajifeRiver
until we hit the TsiribihinaRiver and headed west.
Like any natural river these rivers serpentine, windy their way to the next
body of water. We travel through quiet fertile valleys, typical Sakalava
villages and gorges of Bemaraha we see many other boats all types of commerce
from passenger to goods. What a beautiful trip. We quickly pass the dug out
canoes that left a good bit before us. Ravaka is a god, upgrading our
transport. The sun is beating fairly hard, and we have a nice canopy and warm
breeze.
For lunch Mamy made us a tomato and avocado salad, followed
by rice and freshly caught fish. Bananas and oranges right off the trees for
desert. Wonder what the folks in the canoes are having for lunch.
We have seen many different types of birds, one of the most
interesting birds to watch were the Hawks catching crickets mid flight and eating
them without missing a beat.
In the late afternoon we stopped for a short hike up to a
beautiful pristine waterfall. Maragrite and I both swam and enjoyed the cool
refreshing water about 75 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The water was to cold for
Mamy so he returned to the boat.
Maragrite and I continued to explore the water fall and the different pools it
created. The abundance of insects of many different varieties was fascinating.
After an hour at the falls we continued the boat exploration
west. We stopped just before 5:00 PM, at what looked like a small village that
was actually home to over 10,000 villagers. We were greeted by about 7 children
ranging in age from 3 to 10 as they escorted us on a village tour the group
increased to over 20. The houses ranged from small grass huts to stone and
cinder block three story buildings. The village was alive with activity, people
going about their day to day activities. Tobacco is a big crop for this village
and there were large building for storing and drying the tobacco.
About a mile down river from the village, we pulled up on to
the beach for the night. Mamy prepared
a fantastic meal of fresh vegetables,
followed by grilled chicken. You might wonder, without any refrigeration how
are the meats kept fresh. This is easy, they are kept alive until cooked. A
live chicken does not need to be refrigerated plus it produces eggs until you
kill it. Eggs for breakfast, chicken for dinner. Yep, we got our answer, the
egg came before the chicken.
After dinner we took a walked on the beach as we saw many
villagers returning to the village, after a day of tending the fields.
We had a choice, camp on the beach, or sleep on the boat. We
opted for the breeze, we would get on the boat. Good choice, the cots (wooden
slats) were a little rough but we have slept on worse. Margarite and I have
both decided to go for camper belly 3 days should be easy (Google "camper
belly LifeOfDUG").
We had a beautiful moon rise during dinner, we timed it
perfect with a full moon coming up over the eastern horizon as the sunset on
the west horizon.
Day 7: 05MAY15: Sahambano – Anosinampela
We woke at sunrise
6:00AM went for a walk on the beach to stretch our legs and work the
kinks out from our nights sleep. We continue heading west between the
mountains, home for Sifaka and Fulvus lemurs - several species of birds like
the Madagascar Fish Eagle, Herons, Comb Ducks, Helmeted Guineafowl, Parrots,
Vasa, Madagascar Plover as well as flying dogs (bats), turtles, and chameleons.
As we passed by the cliff sides we could hear and then see
the. Flying dogs (bats) in the caves along the cliffs. Much larger bats than we
had seen on prior trip to other parts of the world, thus the name flying dogs.
Up to this point we have not seen any lemurs, Mamy feels
this maybe due to the engine noise of the
boat scaring them off. One negative
compared to doing this trip in canoes.
We stopped at a very small village for lunch. Mamy made an
excellent lunch for us and we found a villager that offered to help us locate a
few lemurs. Success! Up in the tangerine
trees we found two lemurs resting from their mornings work foraging the trees
for food.
After the excursion searching for the lemurs, we continued
on our west bound trip. What a pleasant way to see the interior of Madagascar. We had four gentleman and a women working as
the crew on the boat as well as Mamy our guide.
As we continued on, the land flattened out more like a plain
than the hills we had passed through. You could see how wide the river gets
during the rainy season.
We had now been on the boat for 36 hours and are enjoying it
immensely. Not just the scenery, but visiting the villages and seeing how
little material items people need to be happy, especially the children. We have
seen this in many places of the world, but after a few months in the UnitedState,
we forget how complicated we make our lives with STUFF. One of the larger
villages we have visited along the TsiribihinaRiver was Sakalava village at Berevo, an
old colonial base and oil exploratory site.
A few hours later we stopped for the evening. Another
beautiful African sunset as well as a full moon
rising. We chose to sleep on
the boat again. Each evening there is a nice cool breeze to help keep us
comfortable, once the moon is fully up the breeze subsides along with the warm temperature.
Tonight we chose to spoil ourselves and put some mattresses down over the
slotted lounge chairs. We both slept like babies waking up again to a beautiful
African sunrise.
Day 8: 06MAY15: Anosin'Ampela–Berevo–Antsiraraka-Belo sur
Tsiribihina
Bad news, 48 hours in and I did not make camper belly,
Maragrite has reduced her intake and is still
going strong even after her morning
coffee. Before leaving for the day we took a walk through the local village.
The area has many baobab trees, though we would be seeing even more later in
the trip. As with many of the villages the people love to have their pictures
taken, and as much as we can, we try to oblige.
After our walk though the village, we had another great
breakfast. I need to give Mamy a lot of credit he is not disappointing us with
the meals he is preparing for us. This mornings omelet's were cooked to
perfection each meal is accompanied with fresh fruits and vegetables.
We are just a few hours from port, the plan is to get close
to port stop for lunch and then dock, this
will then end this portion of the
trip. For lunch we had fresh vegetables including the best avocado I have ever
had. Followed by sautéed prawn, I would have
to say they were fresh, as they had just come out of the river that morning.
For dessert, bananas and watermelon.
We pulled into the dock which was bustling with commerce.
There were two barges one had a Land Rover the other had a jeep and a tractor.
Both barges were still being unloaded of rice and corn. The rice and corn had
just come via barge from many of the villages we had passed, and would now be
taken by Zebu cart to the markets.
The town we were in is called Belo sur Tsiribihina it is at
the mouth of the TsiribihinaRiver. If we had done the
canoe trip as planned the trip would of ended a good distance back and we would
have been brought here by 4WD.
We said good by to our boat crew and gave them each 20,000
Ariary as a tip. We had no idea how much you tip the boat crew, but the crew
seemed very appreciative. 20,000 Ariary is a little less than $7.00 USD.
A driver met us at the dock and drove us to our hotel for
the night, Karibo Hotel. Once we got settled, we showered and rested. Mamy will
meet us at 4:00 PM when he will take us on a tour of Belo sur Tsiribihina. Why 4:00? The
temperature is rather hot and should start cooling off about 4:00 PM.
The Karibo Hotel is very pleasant. You need to remember we
are far from any metropolitan area. Most homes are just huts, few have running
water or electricity. We have both, plus a ceiling fan. We are happy with our
accommodations. No Four Season, but for Belo sur Tsiribihina it truly is
paradise.
We had a nice walk through the village more commerce here
than in the last few villages we visited. Being a port city it is the gateway
for goods going both up and down river.
The streets are mostly walkers mixed with bikes as well as carts drawn
by Zebu. There are a few 4WDs and trucks, but few and far between.
We have been in Madagascar for 5 days now, besides
a couple of French tourist we have been the only white people we have seen.
Mamy said for some of the young children we are the first white people they
have ever seen. We have gotten so use to this, traveling in the far reaches of Africa we forgot what a novelty we are to some of the
folks we run into.
Dinner is at 7:00 it will be hard for the hotel Restaurant
to compete with Mamy's culinary skills.
Day 9: 07MAY15: Belo sur Tsiribihina – Bekopaka
I mention that the Karibo Hotel was paradise, well that all
changed at 4:00 AM. Sometime after we fell asleep the power went out. This is
normal for most of Madagascar.
Someone at the Karibo Hotel thought there was nothing more important than
restoring power so they kicked on a very loud diesel generator. This generator
happen to reside just below our room. Yes, we woke up at 4:00 AM to a room full
of carbon-monoxide and a loud generator running. We quickly opened the door to
allow the carbon-monoxide to dissipate, but sleep would evade us for the rest
of the night/morning.
We had a nice breakfast of freshly made omelets and then met
up with Mamy and our driver. We would be riding in a Toyota Land Cruiser. By 7:30 AM we were north bound, our 4WD vehicle and driver did a
great job on the red lateric track, going through the baobab forest and
savannah to the National Park of Tsingy de Bemaraha, one of the World’s most
unusual parks. A few times if not for the skill of our driver I am sure we
would of been
stuck for hours if not days in the mud and ruts of the road. We
covered 100 kilometers in just 4 hours.
Once we got to the banks of the ManaboloRiver
we called the ferry over to transport us and our Land Cruiser to the northern
bank and park entrance.
Mamy dropped us off at our hotel about 2 kilometers away. We
would be staying at the Soleil des Tsingy for
the next two nights, and let me tell you this was, truly paradise. As nice as
any resort/hotel we have stayed at in Africa,
with the personalized service to match.
Little Tsingy
At 3:00 PM Mamy and Fady (our driver) picked us up. We were
going to hike the petit Tsingy which is right at the entrance to the park. The
park requires you to have one of their guide take you on any hikes, we had Fred
as our local guide. Fred was great his English was so so, but he was working
hard to improve it. The petit Tsingy was created by the rains eroding the
limestone creating fantastic rock formations. Not only did we tour these rock
formations we also saw a lot of wildlife, the highlight was the lemurs.
Watching them eating their lunch in the trees, once done eating they would run
off by jumping from tree to tree some times clearing several meters at a time.
After our hike we returned to Soleil des Tsingy had a nice
swim and great dinner. Dinner started with
an appetizer of smoked zebu and
cucumber, the main was zebu with pasta, dessert for me was a creme brûlée, for
Margarite dessert was a fantastic gluten free dairy free dark chocolate muse.
Tomorrow will be an early start so off to bed it is.
Day 10: 08MAY15: Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, is a
UNESCO world heritage site.
Today we started with an early morning paddle through Gorges of the ManamboloRiver.
Mamy and Fady picked us up at 7:30AM, we picked Fred up on the way. We went to
the same area that the barge had brought us to the day before on the Northern
bank of the ManamboloRiver, which is also the
main entrance to the park.
Great Tsingy Part I
Great Tsingy Part II
There was a canoe waiting for us, the canoe was actually two
canoes tied together. The canoe captain had a tough job, we were going up river
into a stiff headwind. We traveled for 2 kilometers viewing and learning about
the gorge and how it was formed.
We pulled into a cave where we left the canoes and observed
the cave and how it was formed by the
rain seeping in from above and the
limestone being carried away.
The trip back was a little easier on the canoe captain with
the current and tail wind.
Next we will be doing a four hour walking safari inside the
park. But first we need to drive the 17 kilometers to the big Tsingy. This
drive took just under two hours, the roads are more like mud bogs. Our driver
did great, never getting us stuck. I can not say that for a few of the other
drivers.
A Tsingy is like a gigantic limestone cathedral, and
constitutes a dense network of sharp pinnacles formations. This is found in
only two places in Madagascar.
The Tsingy, formed over centuries by the movement of wind and water, the big
T'singy towers several hundred meters into the air. Several species of succulent plants grows on
the Tsingy. We started our walk in the
jungle spotting a few different species of lemurs.
This National Park also shelters 13 species of Lemurs, among
them the Decken's Sifaka, Red Fronted
Brown lemur, the Grey Mouse Lemur, the
Wooly Lemur, the Verrauxi Sifaka - mammals like the Narrow striped Mongoose,
Fossa, 94 species of birds are also found here, like the endemic Madagascar
Fish Eagle, Giant Couas and Vangas. Twenty-two species of amphibians and 66
species of reptiles have been inventoried here.
Once we reached the big Tsingy we hiked/climbed/crawled our
way to the to the top. What an exciting way to see the Tsingy. In many places
you are scaling the walls and must harness yourself to wire cables attached to
the Tsingy.
The return is a little easier, but not any less challenging,
You must cross a single person suspension bridge about 80 meters in the air.
The bridge bounces and wobbles with each steep.
Once back at the jeep we headed back for what should have
been an under 2 hour drive, but turned into almost 3 hours. The single track
mud bog that they call a road swallowed up a few jeeps that had left before us.
Not that we would leave them, there was no way back until
these jeeps were freed. Everybody kicked in and after some time everybody was
free from the mud and on their way.
Tomorrow we have a very long day, Mamy requested we be ready
to go at 5:30AM. We reluctantly
agreed. So far Mamy has been right with
everything we have done, so why start challenging him now!
Another great dinner zebu capattio , followed by a main of
duck with potato, and chocolate mouse for dessert. I enjoyed a great meal,
while Maragrite had a bowl of rice. Her belly has been a little upset so she
was not able to enjoy the tasty meals.
Day 11: 09MAY15: Bekopaka – Morondava
Today will actually be two days in one. Our flights that
were to be in two days, were changed to tomorrow. Mamy and Fody picked us up at
5:30AM. This was a concern, since breakfast was not scheduled until 6:00AM.
When we mentioned our early departure the hotel staff told us they would set up
for breakfast at 5:00AM just for us. That is service!
The next issue with our early departure was the ferry barge
back across the ManamboloRiver. Mamy contacted the
ferry folks and they said they would be ready for us. As we drove to the river
crossing, we past the ferry captain walking to the dock. We obviously gave him
a lift. When we arrived the ferry was on the other side of the river, so the
captain and crew paddled a canoe across to retrieve the ferry. The best laid
plans!
We were on the road by 6:30AM, we would be passing back
through Belo sur Tsiribihina which was 100 kilometers away about a 4 hour
drive. Once in Belo sur Tsiribihina we had to take another ferry across the TsiribihinaRiver. The logistics on this ferry was
much better. They were waiting for us as soon as we drove up, we immediately
boarded and the ferry departed. The ferry ride was 30 minutes not only did we
cross the river, we also went up stream about 2 kilometers.
Our first stop of the day was Kirindy Forest Reserve, home of the Fosa
predator, Tenrec, the Verrauxi Sifaka, snakes and chameleons. It was a 2 hour
drive after getting off the ferry. Once there we were assigned a guide that specializes
in Kirindy Forest Reserve. Kirindy Forest Reserve is a private reserve that is
used for ecology education by several different universities. Our guide did a
great job spotting a few different species of lemurs, even getting a few to wander
within a few feet of use. Originally we were to stay at the park overnight and
have a night hike to view some nocturnal lemurs, with our flights changing this
was canceled and we continued our drive south.
Baobab Avenue
We reached Baobab
Avenue for a spectacular sunset. Baobab Avenue is
were the road is lined with giant Baobab Trees. There is a Lyly Pond on one
side of the road and Baobabs on the other. It makes for great picture taking at
sunset. We were still 20 kilometers or an hour from our final destination of the coastal town of Morondava.
The road improved much, flat, smooth, and paved. Life was
good until it got dark. Though the quality of road allowed us to increase our
speed the obstacles did not. Bicycles, small carts, pedestrians, and of course
Zebu, no lights on the road, a mud covered windshield, if it was not for the
skill of Fody this might have been a dangerous situation. Never fear Fody is
here, especially when it comes to driving. We arrived at our hotel at 6:30 PM
13 hours after we had left. We are staying at the Pallisandre Cote Ouest Resort and Spa. The Pallisandre
Cote Ouest Resort and Spa is located directly on the beach. Mamy made sure we
were all checked in and got us our new
flight times, 1:45 PM. This means Mamy
will pick us up at 11:00 AM. We only get to enjoy this beautiful place
for a short period of time.
Once we were settled, we had dinner, a salad with chicken
fingers, this was a first for me and it was fine. The main was shrimp with
couscous, in a curry sauce. This was fine but not to the same standards as the
prawns Mamy had made us. Dessert chocolate éclairs, but instead of whipped
cream they used Ice cream, it was a very nice touch and the best part of the
meal.
It was approaching 9:30 PM, it had been a long day so we hit
the sack.
Day 12: 10 MAY15: Morondava – Tana
We had a relaxing morning. Mamy and Fody were not picking us
until 11:00. We got our first view of Pallisandre Cote Ouest Resort and Spa in the day light. Each bungalow / cabana was set up as it's own suite. Each spaced 10 meters apart, my guess is there were 20 bungalows ours and a few others faced the Mozambique Channel. The rest of the
bungalows sat back behind. Each had a
porch with a nice set of table and chairs for relaxing and enjoying the view.
Inside the bathroom was at least a third of the space with a beautifully
appointed tile and wood decor. The water pressure was great, and the hot water
came form a solar exchanger which was nice and hot, but took a minute or two to
get to you.
The bedroom was appointed in natural wood, the center had
the king size bed surrounded by the misquote netting. Very comfortable. This
was our first room since leaving Tana that had air conditioning and we took
full advantage of it. There was also a TV from the 1970's with three station,
which we never turned on.
From our bungalow it was a short walk to the pool which we
took advantage of with an early morning swim. The tide was low so the walk to
the water was rather long. In hindsight I would have passed on a visit to the
beach, from a distance, quite beautiful, but up close you could see the locals
used it both as a dump for their trash and a human litter box for their
poooo. Yep, they pooped right on the
beach, worse than a cat they did not even bother to bury their poooo!
Mamy and Fody picked us up right on time. Our flight was
scheduled for 1:40PM on Air Madagascar.
From listening to other tourist and reading reviews keeping a schedule is not a
priority for Air Madagascar.
It seems unless the flight is somewhat full it will not fly.
We arrived at the airport with 2 hours to spear. The
arriving flight was right on time. We actually departed 49 minutes early. I am
on that flight right now, so I am not sure if we will land early.
An interesting fact we learned this morning, one reason the
roads are so bad is the national government pays the local villages to maintain
the section of road that travels near their village. The village leaders,
rather than pay the villagers to work on the roads, just keep the money. This
somewhat makes sense, since 99% of the people in the village walk, bike, or use
a zebu cart, why repair the roads for cars that they do not use. The roads are
fine to walk, bike, and even take a zebu cart.
We landed 50 minutes early, on the flight they served us a
drink and a small bag of cashews. The flight was very pleasant I would give
them a 9 out of 10 based on all the horror stories we have heard. One flight
down three to go.
Our itinerary has changed a few times since we arrived in Madagascar. The
last change had us being picked up at the airport and overnight in Tana and
then flying out early the next morning to Tulear. Prior to that change we were
suppose to transfer from this flight to a flight to Tulear. We assumed the
flight to Tulear was canceled and that is why we were changed to the next days
flight.
Once we got our bags we went outside to meet our driver, but
there was no driver. This was not a big surprise as we were 50 minutes early,
there were other passengers waiting for their rides. After about 30 minutes we
saw people showing up for a departing flight, we checked and this flight was to
Tulear. Now we were a little confused / concerned, was a driver picking us up
or were we suppose to connect to Tulear. It was now 2:50PM, no driver and more
people checking in for the Tulear flight. I gave a call to Ravaka, but had to
leave a message. I do not blame Ravaka it was a Sunday and we were probably
panicking over nothing.
Finally a gentleman came up to us and asked if we were DUG
and Margarite, it was our driver. We had seen him walking around, when he
arrived about 20 minutes after we landed, he asked Air Madagascar
about our flight. They confused him, because we landed so early, he was not
sure if they were talking about our flight or another flight.
To make a long story short we found our driver, or he found
us. The flight that was boarding for Tulear was the flight Ravaka was hoping to
get us on, but it sold out, so she put us on the next mornings flight.
The best part, when we got to the car the driver showed us
the sign he had with our names on it, we never figured out why he left it in
the car, it might of saved us a few minutes and a little concern if he had the
sign with him. These things happen, and
if they are going to bother you it is best to stay home and not travel. As we
chatted with the driver we found out his name was Harry.
We arrived at our hotel La Varangue, what a grand unique hotel.
The owner must be a big collector, out front in a covered area there were 4
European classic cars, inside there were collections of antique phones, musical
instruments, lights, and more. The reception area doubled as a bar, upon our
arrival we were served fresh cool pineapple juice.
The building was somewhat of a maze, clearly several
structures put together over time. Our room was lovely. They room next to us
was open and we took a look around it was more like an apartment with a nice
outside sitting area.
We walked around for a bit, our main goal was to find an ATM
and restock on some Ariary, Madagascar
money. 700,000 Ariary to be exact or about $230.00 USD. One disturbing part of
our walk was the number of kids on the street begging. You could see their moms
telling them who to go after. It was very sad and disheartening, so
disheartening we cut our walk short.
Sure we have seen scenes like this in other places, but
never with mothers as blatantly exploiting their children. It was a shame for
the kids. The irony of it all is our hotel is right next to the presidential
place.
The restaurant at our hotel is closed on Sunday nights so
Ravaka made us reservations at one of the best restaurants in town at the Hotel
Colbert, just a few hundred yards from La Varangue. Before retreating to the
sanctuary of La Varangue we stopped in to confirm our reservation. The receptionist already had all our
information and Harry had dropped off a voucher to cover the cost of dinner.
After relaxing back at La Varangue we ventured out for our
7:00 PM dinner reservation. The streets we deserted (the beggars gone) so the
walk was pleasant. We were greeted and shown to a very nice table, the
restaurant, opened at 7:00 PM and was starting to fill up. We both had appetizers
of Foie Gras it was nice but not as enjoyable as the Foie Gras Magarite had our
first night in Madagascar
at the restaurant Sakamanga, but then again Sakamanga is famous for it's Foie
Gras. I decided to go simple for my main and had spaghetti and meat sauce,
neither Malagasy or French, but simple. Margarite had a trio of fish with rice
and veggies. We both enjoyed our meals, Margarite said her fish was excellent.
Dessert time, Margarite was passing on dessert but ordered a
Cream Brulee for me. I ordered a chocolate mouse. Both were fantastic, put
together a spoon of half chocolate mouse and half Cream Brulee was to die for.
Harry was picking us up at 6:00 AM so we headed back to our
hotel for what we thought would be a pleasant evening walk. Unfortunately we
were immediately accosted by beggars, this time not the children but the
mothers. We increased our stride and they quickly fell behind.
Once back in our room, we feel asleep only to be awaking by
a swarm of misquotes. We have no idea where they came from. Here we were in the
city of Tana and there were more misquotes in
our room than we had seen in all of Madagascar so far, including many
areas that had standing water that were perfect breeding grounds. What were we
to do? Another anomaly, this was the first bed in Madagascar without a misquote net.
As we swatted the insects, even hitting each other a few times, the buzz of
their wings was like Chinese water torture! We decided to crank the air
conditioner and see if we could freeze them out. This worked we finally got to
sleep, but woke up freezing.
Day 13: 11MAY15:
Tana - Tulear – Monday
Harry picked us up right on time, we were at the airport at
6:30AM plenty of time for our 8:45 AM flight. Once through security we waited
for our 8:20AM boarding call, which happened a few minutes early. We took off
at 8:45 AM exactly. So far so good, two departures, one early, one right on
time. Our first flight is to Taolagnaro / FortDauphin,
we then have a 35 minute layover, not sure if we switch planes or not, but
somehow continue on to Tulear. As I write this I am on the first flight and all
is going well.
Air Madagascar
is now three for three, flight number one was 50 minutes early, flights two and
three were right on time. Let's knock on wood, since we have two flights left.
Bernice our guide was waiting for us as we exited the TulearAirport.
He even had a sign with ours names on it. He introduced us to our driver Mick.
Mick drives a Mitsubishi 4WD pickup truck. In the back of the truck he has 4
mountain bikes. I had forgotten Ravaka has set us up with bikes for this
portion of the trip. Once our luggage was stowed we were off to our hotel.
We are staying at Serena Hotel. A nice hotel, modern architecture, the hotel
started on the second floor, not sure what was on the first. One interesting
item was the room key. It had an RF chip in it, you just waved it in front of
the door and it unlocked, same for the room safe. The room was rather musty, but
Tulear is on the water so that may be the issue.
Bernice dropped us off at a nice Indian restaurant for
lunch, while he and Mick went to assembly the bikes. They would meet us back at
the hotel at 2:30PM. We both enjoyed our meals, the service was extremely slow,
but we were not in a rush and they had a Bollywood movie playing that we
watched as we waited.
On our walk back we experienced similar begging as in Tana,
not as aggressive. At 2:30PM we biked to the
Antsokay Arboretum, Bernice told us it was a ten kilometer ride, it was
closer to twenty kilometers, you will later see there is an issue with Bernice
and distances.
Bike Ride Tulear to Antsokay Arboretum and Back
Riding a bike in Tulear is an experience in itself. First of
all there are no rules of the road in Madagascar when it comes to driving,
no matter what type of vehicle, car, bus, truck, motorcycle, scooter, bicycle,
for that mater I would include pedestrians. We figure you can only worry about
yourself and just make sure the space in front of you is open, if so keep
riding. We survived. On the way back another bicyclist tried to pass Magarite
just as a car was passing Margarite. The bicyclist hit Margarite's back wheel,
Margarite held her ground and stayed strong, the bicyclist that hit her,
stumbled, but recovered all was good.
The Antsokay Arboretum was very nice, an outdoor Arboretum.
We had a very energetic tour guide that gave us all the Latin names for the
different plants and trees, as well as the birds. We are glad we took the tour
and truly enjoyed it.
The bike ride back was an experience, it was dusk when we
left the Arboretum and dark when we reached the hotel. We had no lights or
reflective materials, there was no way cars could see us unless they had
natural night vision goggles. What was worse, most cars for some reason did not
use their headlights, maybe they do have night vision goggles.
We rode fast, our thinking, the faster we went the less time
we would spend on the road, as we passed
other bikes they would race us, this
made the ride back quick and fun.
Bernice had told us the ride would be 10 kilometers each way
it was closer to 15 kilometers each way. So instead of biking 20 kilometers we
biked 30 kilometers.
The SerenaHotel does not have a
restaurant, so we walked to La Terrasse
restaurant just a few blocks down from our hotel. A little hole in the
wall with excellent food. I went for a pizza and it was fantastic. Maragrite
went for a very interesting combination,
she had two appetizers Foie Gras and mixed vegetables. We both had
desserts, chocolate muse for me, and bananas flambé for Margareite. The walk
home was fine, but the street was very, very, very dark, we screwed up and had
forgotten our flashlights.
Bernice and Mick would be picking us 7:30AM.
Day 14: 12MAY15: Tulear – Isalo
We needed to get a picnic lunch before departing, we would
be traveling the entire day with nowhere to stop for lunch. We decided to just
get fruits at the market across from the hotel. Once all provisioned, we set
out for IsaloNational Park. We drove towards the savannah
and the baobab areas. Several species of spiny vegetation of this area are
endemic and exist nowhere else.
Our first stop was ZombitseNational Park, where we saw three
different types of lemurs as well as some plants, trees, and birds, but the lemurs
were the highlight two of the lemurs we saw were Hapa and Sifaka lemurs.
Zombitse National Park Bike Ride to Isalo
From ZombitseNational park we stopped
under a shade tree and had our lunch. Bernice said it was 40 kilometers to
Isalo so we decided to bike from there rather than drive more and then bike. We assembled the bikes
and were off with Mick hanging back incase we had any issues. The first 20 kilometers was a slow steady climb, at kilometer 21 we had a 9 kilometer down hill. The ride was quite nice, smooth roads and very little traffic. At kilometer 21 we doubled checked how far we had to go and Bernice said maybe it would be 45 kilometers. At the bottom of the hill, which was 30 kilometers, Margarite decided to go ahead with Mick and get us checked into the hotel. We were staying at the Relais de la Reine listed as one of the nicest places to stay in all of Madagascar.
Bernice is a slow and steady type of biker, I was much
faster, and had a hard time going as slow as Bernice. I would ride
ahead and then wait as I had no idea where we were going.
At 50 Kilometers Bernice said we had 3 or 4 kilometers to
go. Our total ride was 60 kilometers. Bernice was off by 20 kilometers. We are
buying Bernice a map. The ride was beautiful, but further than we planned to
ride.
I guess we are starting to see a theme with Bernice and
distances, first ride planned for 20 kilometers was really 30 kilometers, today
planned for 40 kilometers was really 60 kilometers. If he tells us 60
kilometers tomorrow, we will pull out a map and measure.
After a fantastic shower and some stretching we headed to
dinner. I had the gazpacho appetizer, curry
coconut fish as my main, and a
chocolate muse covered in a hard chocolate dome for dessert. Margarite had a medley of vegetables for her
appetizer, pork ribs as her main, and fruit for dessert. Based on the way we
devoured our meals, either it was a great meal, or we were starving from our
bike ride, or both. I think it was both.
Day 15: 13MAY15: Isalo
Isalo National Pack
We woke at 6:30AM for our 7:00 AM breakfast. We met Bernice
and Mick at 8:00AM we had about a 30 minute drive to the IsaloNational park
office where we would buy our hiking permits.
At the office we also met Martin, who will be our local
guide for the day. We have now been in Madagascar for 12 days and it still
baffles me why we need so many guides. We have our driver, we have our main
guide, they are both with us 100% of the time and then when we get somewhere we
have a specific guide for that place. I am not complaining, I love the extra
service, it just confusing why all the guides.
As we waited for Bernice and Martin to get the permits we
saw many other hikers. One gentleman was clearly going out hiking for several
days. Just like when we went on the boat and took a live chicken, he had a live
chicken tied to his pack. He would be eating well on his trek, very fresh
chicken.
Martin, explained that today's hike would cover about 13
kilometers in distance and just a very small
part of the park. We would stop a
few places where we could swim, we will also stop for lunch at a beautiful
overlook.
Composed of eroded ruiniform sandstone formations from the
Jurassic era, Isalo is a semi-desert area characterized by its canyons, oases
and lunar landscape - home for lemurs and many other endemic species. It gives
the feeling of open space and stillness.
The hike started out in a forest area where we quickly saw
several ring tail lemurs, this was the first time we saw this species of
lemurs. Once out of the forest we were in a much more arid area of the park,
the canyons made of sandstone that had been carved by both wind and rain made
for some very unusually shapes in the rocks. The hike took us up and down the
canyon walls.
Our first stop was an oasis that was a magnificent area, a
crystal clear pool, feed by a cascading waterfall, all outlined by Palm trees
and ferns. We stopped and I enjoyed a nice refreshing swim.
After a short break we resumed our hike, we would cross the
canyon and head up to the crest, from this ridge line we could see both into
and out of the canyon. We were now at the highest point of the hike. We decided
to stop to have lunch as the views were breathtaking and we could not think of
a better place to enjoy our lunch and great views at the same time.
After lunch we hiked down to another oasis, the trail was
very well maintained and much of the hike was on stairs carved out of the sandstone. It seemed like we would go down 20 stairs and then up 20 stairs. We finally arrived at our second oasis, this one much larger than our first. We had now hiked 9 kilometers. We had been through an area that reminded me of hiking in Utah or Arizona
in America,
dry, wind worn canyons, short vegetation. These oasis, were more like tropical
islands, then arid deserts. This oasis contained a picnic area / camp ground.
The ring tail lemurs liked hanging out here as they liked to steal objects from
the tourist. When we arrived we saw about a half a dozen lemurs doing just
that. What a sight to see.
This oasis branched into two directions, like a
"Y", the first branch we took led to the blue and black pool, both
fed by water falls. The area was a narrow canyon, that was lined with moss and
ferns. You could see how high and strong the water runs in the rainy season by
just looking at the large trees that were lodged high and dry on rocks well above the current
water level. We decided to just soak our feet rather than swim as we only had a
short time left and did not want to get in the truck wet.
After visiting the pools, we took the other branch to visit
a rather high water fall that emptied into another pool. This water fall was
fairly far up the path, and was significantly higher than the first set of
falls. At this point we had been out for over 8
hours and it was approaching
5:00PM. We decided to "B" line it back to the car park where Mick
would be waiting for us.
The hike ended exactly at 13 kilometers, clearly Martin has
a better understanding of distances than Bernice. It had been a long day, but
well worth it. In just 13 kilometers the landscape, plant life, insects, all
changed significantly, as if we were walking from one world to another.
Once back at the hotel we had another awesome dinner.
A few things I have been meaning to mention the first, as we
continue toward eastern Madagascar
from the west I realize the facial features of the villagers are looking more
Asian again. What I had not realized as we traveled west the people had become
more African in their features. This makes sense since the west coast of Madagascar is close to South Africa and Mozambique. In the sixteen
hundreds, people from these areas migrated to Madagascar
and settled in western Madagascar.
The east coast of Madagascar
faces South Asia, thus folks that settled this
region came from that area.
The other interesting / funning observation, since we have
been in Madagascar anytime we walk into
a village the kids come running to us
and greet us by saying "whaaats uuuup" I always return the greeting
with a very strong "What's Up!". The kids would always laugh
hysterically after I said my "What's Up!". What I found out today was
the kids were not saying, "whaaats uuuup" but we're saying
"Vasa". Vasa means white person in Malagasy's, not in a derogatory
way but as a term of endearment. No
wonder the kids always laughed at me. They must of thought I was a nut!
We will be leaving Isalo tomorrow, the hotel we are staying
at is very nice, but I am surprised people have said it is the nicest in all of
Madagascar.
I would say Soleil des Tsingy in TsingyNational Park is far nicer.
On a scale of one to ten I would give Relais de la Reine an eight and I would
give Soleil des Tsingy a ten plus. The biggest difference was the staff, the
staff at both were great, but the staff at Soleil des Tsingy seemed to go above
and beyond. For example when we said we needed breakfast at 5:00 AM even though
they did not serve breakfast until 6:00AM they opened at 5:00 AM just for us.
Day 16: 14MAY15: Isalo – Ranomafana
Today we have a long drive about 400 kilometers. I am glad
the roads are much better on this section of the trip. As we left the
rainforest area, we drove through the savannah and rocky landscapes of the
southern Madagascar.
One thing Bernice pointed out is that what looks like a grassy plain was once
forest that had been clear cut to create pastures for the zebu to graze. While
great for the zebu, this has caused a lot of erosion and other environmental
issues for this area.
Isalo to Ranomafana
We stopped at Anja Reserve, a community-run protected area -
here we got real close to the Ring tailed lemurs amongst others. There are over
three hundred ring tail lemurs living in this small area. We were able to see
several different families as we walked the reserve. We also enjoyed watching a
crocodile sun himself on a rock in the pond that borders the reserve. After
taking a few hundred pictures of the lemurs we decided to move on.
We continued through a huge plateau and valley which is the
area of the Bara, - a conservative farming tribe whose livelihood and rituals
are centered on the zebu. Unfortunately we missed the largest zebu market of
the Island maybe even all of Africa by just one day, but we did see the
results
as we drove we passed many a shepherd walking their newly purchased zebu back
to their villages.
The next major village we past through was Ambalavao, where
we visited the Antaimoro paper factory, a very nice lady gave us a tour and
demonstration of how paper was made in the 1,600's when the Arabs brought the
technique to Madagascar and this is the way paper is still made today. The
highlight was how they decorate the paper with real plant material.
Next on our list was the silk weavers’ workshops, which
belongs to a local association of women.
Here we saw how they take the cocoons
from the caterpillars and turn them into several different types of silk. We
even learned what different natural materials they use to die and set the
silk, from different tree barks, to curry. It was a very interesting process. I
had no idea what went into making silk.
We had another 100 kilometers, of which the landscaped
transformed into a think rich rain forest including a very spectacular water
fall, before we reach our final destination of Setam Lodge which is set in
Ranomafana rain forest / national park.
Immediately upon entry into our room we realized the musty
odor, I guess this it to be expected in a rain-forest, but the musty odor was
very strong. As you travel around Madagascar you must constantly remind
yourself how nice the accommodations are
relative to the infrastructure of the country for example both Soleil des
Tsingy and Relais de la Reine I would put up against any 5 star resort anywhere
in the would, yet these two resorts have to provide all their own
infrastructure such as electric and water, yet you would never know it.
As I write this I am reminded of the infrastructure issues,
we just lost power at Setam Lodge. It is time for dinner, which reminds me how
we have been enjoying gourmet meals with very little infrastructure.
Diner was nice we started out with a vegetable zebu soup,
followed by chicken with rice and veggies. The chicken was a bit tough. For
dessert we had a chocolate brownie with a vanilla cream sauce. The brownie was
a bit dry. The food was not the best we have had so far, but it matched what
one would expect from the Setam Lodge.
Day 17: 15MAY15: Ranomafana
Ranomafana
Bernice said they would pick us up at 8:00 AM so we had a
nice enjoyable breakfast at 7:00 AM and met Bernice and Mick at 8:00 AM.
We drove about a kilometer to the Ranomafana park entrance.
Bernice introduced us to our guide for
the day his name, Diamond, yep just like
the gem. Ranomafana is a place to
discover and experience the bewildering diversity of endemic plant and animal
life it protects. Home for rare primates amongst other animals and plants. We spent the morning inside the park, Diamond
gave us a tour that lasted about 2 and a half hours. We saw the rare golden
bamboo lemur, along with the brown and red lemur. All playing in the trees,
jumping from tree to tree, while eating the leaves and fruits from the trees.
Along with the lemurs we saw many birds, a few huge moths,
and of course some very cool spiders. It was a great visit to the rain forest.
After the park tour we relaxed at the hotel read some, and
enjoyed a nice lunch on the outside deck over looking the park.
In the afternoon, we visit the village of Ranomafana
and its water springs center. This is a public pool that is feed from a natural
hot spring. While the pool looked inviting instead of jumping in the pool, we
watched about 100 school kids have a blast in the pool. The kids were visiting
the park as a field trip from the big city.
It was a CatholicSchool from the village
Bernice lives in. Bernice happened to
know the sister since
she had taught a few of Bernice's kids. We had a great
conversation with the sister. She had been teaching for sometime and now
teaches some of her past students children. She says she is a grand-teacher
instead of a grandparent.
At the pool with the natural hot spring water you can also
get a massage with essential oils extracted from local plants. We also walked
through the market, Bernice bought us the same Malagasy bread that we had for
breakfast. It is a rice, banana, nut combination that is backed inside a banana
leaf, very tasty and enjoyable.
We decided to walk part of the way back to Setam Lodge. This
walk took us through the village
of Ranomafana.
On our walk we decided to meet some people the first was a
young lady between 14 and 18. She cracks rocks into gravel all day. She does
this with a hammer. Each piece of gravel is perfect in size to match the
others. She can fill 20 bags in a day. Each bag sells for 800 Ariary the
equivalent of 25 cents. Yes, she makes $5.00 a day. A very happy girl. I gave
her 2,000 Ariary about 66 cents for talking with us and letting us tell her
story. She was very thankful. A very sweet nice girl, and a very hard worker
The next girl we chatted with was somewhere between six and
eight. I decided to walk in her shoes. Everyday maybe 3 to 5 times a day she
walks
1.5 miles down a paved hill to the village water source. She fills her
gallon bucket and gallon jug and then walks the 1.5 miles back. Each time
carrying about 14 pounds of water. Not very heavy when you start the journey,
but a mile in, the 14 pounds of water starts to gain weight. I did just one
trip and was very happy we have running water. Like I said this little girl
does this trip 3 to 5 times a day everyday. That is 9 to 15 miles of walking
just to get fresh water for her family. She is happy to do it, though she was
also very happy to let me cover one of her trips.
As you meet and talk to the people of the village you see
one common thread, they are all content.
Their biggest concerns are family, and
health. If they have both, life is good. There is no value placed on material
items. Working hard is an asset not a detriment.
Mick picked us up as we reached the end of the village and
drove us back to the lodge.
At 5:30PM we met up with Diamond again for a short walk to
observe nocturnal animals around the park. The walk was actually on the road up
a few kilometers from the hotel. Diamond was amazing, not only could he spot
all kinds of creatures, he was an expert photographer and taught Margarite how
to shoot picture in the dark. The photographs she got were incredible.
After the walk we returned for dinner, our expectations were
not very high. We had soup again, this time a very nice creamy vegetable soup.
The main, chicken, rice and vegetables. The chicken was much better. Dessert
was crepes flambé, it taste like crepes soaked in rubbing alcohol. Not worth
eating.
Day 18 : 16MAY15: Ranomafana - Antsirabe
Ranomafana to Antsirabe Drive and Bike
Antsirabe is the town Bernice lives in so there is some
excitement for him to see his family tonight.
After a breakfast, we stared our trip to Antsirabe - the city of water
and rickshaws.
As we continued heading north east we could definitely see
the Chinese influence. Not just the people's appearances, but things like the
use of rickshaws for transportation, the food, etc.
We stopped in the town of Ambositra (just south of Antisirabe) to visit
a woodworking shop. The cravers were making a replica of a very ornate table
built in the seventeen hundreds. The original was carved from stone. This one
would be carved from wood. The detail work was incredible all done by hand all
4 legs looked identical. After watching the craftsmen carve, we visited the
shop, which has very beautiful wood work.
We continued on with our travels stopping about 50
kilometers out side of Antisirabe for a picnic lunch. A very beautiful setting,
the entire drive today has been through beautiful rolling hills and valleys of
rice paddies and farm land. The hills terraced for better irrigation and land
use. We slowly left the rainforest, as the morning rain we had woke to broke to
a beautiful sunny day.
With 15 kilometers left in our trip we stopped and switched
over to the bikes. We did the last 15
kilometers via bike, entering the hustle
and bustle of the town just as if we were part of the scene. Rickshaws, taxi bus's,
trucks, a few cars, bikes, and us. All with their own story.
We are staying at the Royal Palace Hotel. A more modern
hotel compared to what we have been staying out. Very nice and a great place to
stay to break up the trip.
We had dinner at a great Restaurant Razafimafy. The food was very traditional
Malagasy with a Chinese flair which is typical for this area. Along with the
meal we got to enjoy live traditional Malagasy folk music. Mick picked us up at
9:00 PM and we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
Day 19 : 17MAY15: Antsirabe - Andasibe
We departed at 8:00 AM
from Antsirabe via Antananarivo to the
destination of AndasibeNational Park, the drive
will take 6 hours. Before we getting to AndasibeNational Park
we had a few stops to make.
Our first stop was a Zebu Horn artesian, they make all kinds
of crafts out of zebu horns. We first got a demonstration of how they make
spoons. The process was interesting, nothing goes to waste. They buy the horns
from the slaughter house. First the horns are cooked to soften them up. Then
the amount of material needed is cut from the softened horn, the material is
placed in a hand pressed and cooled.
This hardens the horn which is then shaped
as a spoon. From there you just work the material like plastic, with the final
stages of buffing and polishing. Margarite bought some spoons. Everything
looked great but we did not need anything.
Our second stop was Bernice's wife's shop. During the off
season Bernice makes crafts from straw and also he makes clothes from Cotton
fabric he buys. The shop is right near
the Zebu Horn Artesian so Bernice's shop gets a lot of tourist traffic. I
bought a hat and shirt. We also meet
Bernice's family, wife, mother in law, 4 children and brother. What a great
experience.
The third stop was the
mineral, stone, and gem shop. They actually collect the raw materials
and then design and fabricate the finished products. They gave us a few items
for good luck.
Tour de Madagascar Mantadia Nature Reserve and more
After the few stops we were on the road, just stopping for
lunch. A lot of driving but we hope it will be worth it. We arrived Vakona Forest Lodge at 6:00 PM
what a beautiful place nestled in the rainforest far from any civilization.
Dinner was excellent. I continue to be amazed at the quality
and gourmet cooking at these far reaching places. Magarite of course had the
Foie Gras for her starter, I had planned to have the goat cheese salad, but
they were out of goat cheese, so I chose the mushrooms topped with a potato
pancake, might sound strange, but it was very good. We both opted for the duck
in a orange marmalade sauce. Margarite had veggies as her side, I had
traditional Creole rice, both were excellent. Margarite passed on dessert so I
opted for two. The first was an ice cream scoop warped in a thin crape covered
in chocolate sauce, again made just right. The second a chocolate cake with a
trio of sauces, chocolate, vanilla, and honey. This was the only disappointment
of the night, the cake was rather dry.
Day 20: 18MAY15: Visit of Mantadia Nature Reserve
We had a busy day ahead of us. We met Bernice, Mick, and
Nester at 8:00 AM. Who is Nester you may ask? He is our local guide. Yep, two
guides, we are surly getting spoiled on this trip.
We had a 12 kilometer 4WD drive on a rather bumpy road, we
felt like we were back in t'singy we went 12 kilometers in just over an hour. We could of run faster. We finally made it to Mantadia Reserve part of the MantadiaNational Park, home of lemurs, birds and
chameleons. The hike lasted a bit over two hours a rather challenging hike, the
terrain was somewhat steep and VERY slippery, but worth-it to explore the
primary rain forest. It had rained the day before on our drive in, but today was
as clear as could be.
Nester did a great job of spotting things for us to see
including Diademed sifaka, Black-and-white
ruffed lemurs, the insectivorous
tenrecs and the rainforest-dependent ground rollers. When the hike was over Margarite
and I debated running back rather suffer through the bumpy ride back. We
decided to suck it up and go in the truck, what a painful ride.
In the afternoon, we first visited the Vakona Reserve where
we saw several crocodiles. While they are in captivity, as much as possible the
reserve mimics their real environment. We also saw a Faso which is a cat like animal that is a predictor to the
lemurs.
After the reserve we visited
LemurIsland where the lemurs are very
friendly, there are 61 lemurs
from many different species living on the island.
They will jump right onto you, an incredible experience! You simply can’t have
the lemur experience anywhere else in the world. It was well worth the time.
Next we walked through the local village just hanging out
with the locals. At dusk we met up with Nester for a night hike. We saw many
similar things we had seen on our last night hike with Diamond, with one
exception, this time we saw a mouse lemur. The mouse lemur is the smallest of
the lemur species and happens to be nocturnal. It was a great sight to see.
Below is an excerpt from a email I had sent to my publisher during the trip I
though you might enjoy.
"We have spent the last few days in the
rainforest. We have done a few hikes.
Last night we had a very funny, exciting, and maybe even a little dangerous
experience. So funny that 24 hours later we are still laughing about it.
Unfortunately I forgot to turn on my GoPro, so I will test
my writing skills and see if I can describe the situation. It maybe be rather long. Remember as you read
this English is my second language.
We were on a nocturnal hike. Joining us, Bernice our main
guide, he has been with us for the last 10 days. Nester, our local guide who is
an expert on the rain forest's, plants and creatures.
The reason for the nocturnal hike? There are many creatures
that come out only at night. If you want to see them, you better be willing to
hike at night.
Now for the rain forest, as it's name implies it rains a bit
in a rain forest. When we arrived it was
raining, luckily yesterday the skies
were clear for our hikes. With all the rain the forest grows rather thick. So
thick it is close to impossible to walk through. The national parks cut trails
through the rain forest in such a way that we can enjoy them without disrupting
the Eco-system. Because of all the rain, things, like spiders, caterpillars,
geckos, chameleons, and all kind of other little creatures especially leaches
live in the rainforest. In fact earlier in the day Margarite got a leach on her
face. They are much smaller than we expected and hard to see, which makes them
hard to find and remove.
The scene is set, Nester is taking us through the park I am
behind Nester, Margarite behind me and Bernice trailing us. Anybody that has
hired a
guide, knows that a guide takes a lot of pride in their job, and wants
their clients to have the best experience. No matter if the guide is a fishing,
hunting, tour, or photo safari guide, they all want their clients to leave
happy.
Nester explains to use there are two nocturnal lemurs in
this area, the Woolley Lemur and the Mouse Lemur. The mouse lemur is the
smallest lemur (the size of a mouse) and the rarest to see since it is
nocturnal.
Three of us had some type of flashlight or headlamp, Bernice
did not. The light is used to light our way and to spot the creatures we want
to photograph (the creatures eyes will reflect off the light).
As we walk! Nester points out, frogs, dragon flies,
chameleons, spiders. We even see the eyes of a Woolley Lemur. The Woolley Lemur
hangs very high in the trees so we could only see the glow of it's eyes, unless
you get very lucky that is all you will ever see, just the eyes.
I was curious as to how dark it really was, I asked Nester,
would he be able to get us back if all our
lights died. He said we would have
to wait until sunrise to leave the jungle. We then all turned our lights out, I
am not sure if I have ever been in such darkness. After one minute we still
could not see our own hands in front of our faces. Our eyes had not adjusted to
the darkness.
There were two other groups hiking in the same area. Nester would converse with the other guides
in Malagasy. From what we picked up (yes after 18 days in Madagascar you start
to learn the language), they would let each other know where different creatures
were hiding.
We were nearing the end of our hike. The one thing we had
not seen was a Mouse Lemur. Again this would be the crown jewel for Nester to
show us a Mouse Lemur. During the entire hike Nester had been doing Mouse Lemur
calls, so far with no luck. The calls came deep from his throat and are hard to
describe.
If you are still reading we are about to get to the good
part. Three trails about 500 meters
long, all parallel to each other, are cut in the forest. These trails are
connected at each end by a trail that is perpendicular to the three trails. All
three trails are built on the side of a hill.
We are heading back to the car, the hike is about over. Margarite
and I are very happy, we observed unique creatures, and we're looking forward
to a nice dinner. We were hiking back to the car in the same order we had been
hiking, Nester, me, Margarite, Bernice. There was a slight gap between Margarite
and I.
All of a sudden Nester started yelling at me in Malagasy,
his excitement was over the top. I had no idea what he was saying, sure I
understand a little Malagasy, but with his excitement and fast speaking, I got
nothing as far as what he was saying. I just knew something was up. I looked at
him like a deer staring into headlights, except I was a person staring at his
flashlight.
He said in plain English," Hurry! Follow me,
everybody!" He darted straight into the jungle, basically making a 90
degree right turn. The same forest I mentioned early is so thick it is
virtually impossible to walk through.
Nester is about 6 inches shorter than us, and significantly thinner than
even Margarite, and moves like a lemur through the forest.
We have no idea what Nester is chasing, we assume it is a
Mouse Lemur by his excitement. Being the gentlemen I am, I signal for Margarite
to catch up and go ahead of me and follow Nester. Was I being a gentlemen, or
was I thinking, I rather Margarite hit the spider webs than me. Yes all those
big spiders make lots of big webs.
Another interesting thing about the rain forest is bamboo,
it can grow as much as 6 - 12 inches in a day, and it grows towards light. This
means it does not just grow vertical, and can grow horizontal.
Picture this, we are running through the rain forest,
following a person that moves like a lemur. We only can see by the
flashlights/headlamps we carry. There are spiders, leeches, and all other kind
of creatures surrounding us. Oh, plus the spider webs. We have no idea what the
end game is, but we think it is to see a lemur that looks like a mouse. Every
time Margarite hits a bamboo tree that is growing horizontally it slingshots
her back onto me. Finally at one point the bamboo is so thick it stops Margarite's
forward motion, she just plan falls down, she is laughing so hard.
Oh and did I mention the slope of the hill has about 20
degrees lift. As we both lay there laughing hysterically, we continue to hear
Nester yelling hurry up, follow me. We can not see him we just keep heading for
his voice. We some how make it up to the
higher/parallel trail. It seemed like we had been fighting the bamboo for
hours, but I am sure it was just minutes.
Bernice trailing behind us, we had forgotten about Bernice
as we got to the trail we remembered Bernice had no light, he said he just
followed our laughter.
At the trail was Nester with a smile from ear to ear, there
was another guide and her group. They had a flashlight pointed at a Mouse Lemur
in a tree just a few feet off the ground. Perfect for picture taking.
In hindsight was it worth it, absolutely"
After the night hike we looked forward to another great
meal, but we were disappointed. Margarite ordered the same things as the night
before, but was not happy with it, the duck much tougher. My meal was very
salty, it was a Sunday night, maybe the second string chef was on duty. We were
very surprised the difference one night made in the quality of our food.
We will be departing this area tomorrow at 7:30 AM so off to
bed we go.
Day 21: 19MAY15: Andasibe – Antananarivo
After breakfast we left to pick up Nester for a short hike
through another part of the rain forest know Antananarivo.
About half way back we stopped at the reptiles’ farm of Peryeras at Mandraka.
While somewhat hooky, I am glad we stopped, we saw many endemic reptiles to Madagascar,
though in captivity it gave us a great understanding of the diversity of this
country when it comes to it's Eco-system.
as Analamazaotra Nature Reserve. We
saw a another species of lemur called the Indri which is the largest of all
lemurs, they live in pairs. Last night we saw the Mouse Lemur which is the
smallest Lemur and today we saw the Indri which is the largest lemur. Along
with the lemurs we saw many other
endemic animals and plants. After
the hike we continued our 3 hour drive back to
We are staying at the
La Varangue hotel. We had stayed here last time we were in Tana, though
this time our room was not inundated with misquotes, the stay was much better. We also had dinner at the La Varangue, the food was just OK, the staff and atmosphere was very good. The price for Madagascar
standards was high, 124,000 Ariary or about $40.00 USD. If you stay at La Varangue
hotel, get room number 3 not room number 10.
Day 22:20MAY15: Antananarivo–Antsiranana–Three
Bays–Antsiranana NOT
Well good old Air Madagascar. We were suppose to
first depart at 10:30 then 12:30 then the flight was canceled. Now what?
To make up for the lost day, Cactus Tours set us up to tour
a crocodile farm. It was similar to the reptile reserve and the crocodile
reserve we had visited except this was a true working farm. They raised
crocodiles for both food and the skins. It was an interesting outing. They had
over 150 full grown crocodiles.
Air Madagascar
for some reason was taking care of the night accommodations I am not sure why
as we have paid Cactus Tours for our hotel and food. The hotel they put us up
at was A&C Hotel. A very nice hotel just 5 minutes from the airport. This
was great since our flight was rescheduled for 6:30 AM. The one negative and it
was a big one is the food was uneatable! I will find out why Cactus was not
taking care of our accommodations. Update - I never really got a good
explanation.
Day 23 :21MAY15: Antananarivo–Antsiranana–Three
Bays–Antsiranana
Let's try again! 4:00 AM wake up call.
TNR – DIE DEP 6:30 AM ETA 8:00 AM (subject to change)
We finally flew from the capital to Diego then drove to Mountaind’AmbreNational Park,
first checking it at the Nature Lodge. What a
beautiful lodge, built on the top of a hill, you could see the bay's out in the
distance. The main building was the lounge and Restaurant all open air, made of
fine wood. There are twelve cabins each beautifully appointed and located for
both privacy and a great view of the sunset. After our night at an airport
hotel the Nature Lodge was a welcome site. Our guide Rissa and our driver Atqqa
suggested we have some breakfast before our hike.
Mountain d’Ambre National Park and more
After a nice relaxing breakfast we headed to Mountain
d'Ambre national park, created in 1958, Mountain d'Ambre national park was the
first national park in Madagascar.
The goal was to protect the natural resources of Madagascar. The National Park
System of Madagascar has grown tremendously over the last half a century.
It was now time to get closer to nature by visiting the
wildlife in this dense rainforest. It was a
gorgeous day, slight breeze, dry
air, clear skies and moderate temperatures.
Rissa suggested mosquitoes
repellent and a rain jacket. I laughed at the rain jacket, but she
explained there were micro climates in the rainforest and you never knew when
it might rain. The drive to the park was only about 30 minute from the Nature
Lodge which was a nice surprise after all the long drives on the terrible roads
from the other parts of our travels through Madagascar. Once we arrived Rissa
explained we would be taking two, two and a half hour hikes with a picnic lunch
break in between. While 7 species of lemur live In the park 2 nocturnal, Rissa explained we might not see
any as the park is so big and the lemurs tend to stay away from the trails. The
first hike was beautiful the rainforest lush and full of vibrant plant life.
There were less birds then we saw in the other rainforest. It seemed this had
to do with the season. Rissa found some interesting chameleons and a few
geckos. Rissa even found the smallest species of Chameleon, less than an inch
long. On this hike we visited two water falls. This region provides all the
water for the people and the farms so it is very important and secrete.
When we got to the picnic area Atqqa had our lunch all set
up. Vegetables, a potato salad with beets, chicken and fish, followed by fresh
picked oranges for dessert.
The second hike was a little more challenging we hiked up
over the mountain and down to a beautiful pristine lake that I was sure was the
crater of an extinct volcano. We took a break and just sat and enjoyed the
peace and quiet. After our break we headed back up the mountain to meet back
with Atqqa. While we did not see as much wildlife as we had seen on other hikes
in other parts of Madagascar
this hike was beautiful in it's own way. Plus, we did not need our rain jackets
the weather stayed beautiful the whole hike. Only Rissa needed the
suggested mosquito
repellent as she had
worn shorts and the mosquitoes were swarming her legs.
We returned back to the Nature Lodge at 3:00PM for a much needed relaxing
afternoon just sitting on our porch waiting for the sunset.
Dinner was fantastic. We started with three tomatoes stuffed
with fresh crab, the main course was fresh fish in a ginger sauce with
vegetables and rice. Dessert was bananas in a sweet ginger sauce. Everything
was perfectly prepared and the flavors perfect. What a difference from the meal
we could not even eat the night before. It had been a long day so off to bed we
go.
Day 24: 22MAY15: Antsiranana –
Diego Suarez is home of the second largest bay in the world.
Known for their rugged beauty, the three bays: Sakalava, Pigeon and finally the
Dunes will be our morning destination. Each bay has a unique landscape but all
have in common the turquoise waters.
Rissa and Atqqa picked us up at 8:30 AM we traveled through
the city of Diego Suarez to get to the bay of Sakalava,
which is the largest of the three bays. Three hundred meters off the beach was
a small island that looked like a mini volcano, though it was lush with green
plant life. Rissa explained the Malagasy believe their ancestors spirits live
on this island and for good luck it is important to leave offerings.
The second bay we visited was Pigeon bay, this bay with beautiful white
beaches and warm calm water, protected from the waves of the Indian Ocean by a natural coral reef. With the constant
winds during the dry season it makes for the perfect place to wind surf and
kite surf. My guess is there were over 100 surfers in total during the brief
time we spent wading in the calm waters of Pigeon bay. Rissa said people come
from all over the world just to experience these perfect conditions.
The last of the three bays was DunesBay,
named for the high sand dunes surrounding the bay. We
walked the bay wading in
and out of the beautiful turquoise water. As we walked we saw the ruminates of
World War Two, Cape Miné with its guns and fortifications that authenticate the
role of the former colonial army in the Bay of Antsiranana. arm fortifications
and old artillery cannons, this area was
controlled by the French as they were battling the British.
We finished our loop leaving the camp to reach the village
Orangea Ramena. Orangea Ramena is a fishing village we stopped at Restaurant G
M Jeannette, we had a lovely lunch of fresh grilled fish and barbecued
shrimp.
After lunch we toured downtown Diego Suarez. With Diego
Suarez being both a tourist destination and a location from three different Madagascar military bases, the city seemed to be
thriving and more cosmopolitan than other areas of Madagascar we had been to. We also
noticed significantly more Vasa (white people) in Diego Suarez than any other parts of Madagascar.Many were tourist here to enjoy the great weather and beaches. We also noticed
many French military training the Malagasy Army. We concluded that some of the
French military at some point hit their mid-life crisis, leave their families
in France
and move to Diego Suarez where they can marry a young beautiful Malagasy women,
and live like a king for just a few dollars a day.
There were just to many middle aged French men, walking
around with new Malagasy families for this not to some kind of place for these
men to move to.
We spent a few hours walking the city getting a nice history
lesson from Rissa as well as seeing the bustling economy, with the busy port,
the fish cannery, and even the gold mine out in the distance. While there were
street vendors like in Tana, they were less aggressive and much more pleasant
to deal with. We stopped at a very nice chocolate shop Roberts Chocolatier, and bought some pure Malagasy chocolate. We enjoyed
the chocolates as we walked.
We ended our walk back at the Grand Hotel were we will be
spending the night.
Day 25: 23MAY15: Antsiranana - Antananarivo
Our flight was up in the air figuratively not literally
until the last minute. We originally thought we would be flying in the late
afternoon, then we were told early in the morning. This excited us, if we could
land in Tana before 11:00AM there was a chance we could fly directly onto
Reunion , gaining an extra day in Reunion, but
more importantly skipping a extra night in Tana.
In the end the flight was confirmed for 1:00 PM. This gave
us the morning to walk around Diego Suarez, it was Saturday morning, the town was a buzz with activity. The local market was busy, with farmers selling their products. After 23 days in Madagascar
you would have thought by now I would of learned pedestrians DO NOT have the
right of way. One must look both ways, and continue to look both ways as they
rapidly cross the street. Not only will cars NOT slow for you, I am fairly
confident they will both accelerate and aim for you. Several times I was almost
taken out by these three wheeled yellow taxi type vehicles.
We were picked up at 11:00 AM and delivered to the Diego
Suarez airport without incident. Once there, we realized that it was possible
to fly direct from Diego Suarez to Reunion, we
had hope yet of bypassing Tana. Unfortunately that flight is just once a week
on Tuesdays, and it was Saturday.
This would be our fourth flight on Air Madagascar. Of
the four flight everyone of them had at least one schedule change, some just a
few hours others more than a day. Once the schedule was what they consider
confirmed all four flights took off and landed on time or early.
We found out the issue, Air Madagascar does not have enough
planes to fly the schedule they publish. What they do, as it gets close to
flight day, they move the schedule around to maximize the
number of full
flights and minimized the number of less than full flights. For example they
may have two flights schedule for a particular day, one from Tana to Tulear and
one from Tana to Deigo Suarez. Two flights, but they will only have one plane
available. As they get close to flight time they will cancel the flight that
has the least number of passengers and reschedule those passengers on the next
available flight to that destination. Which might be the next day, or in
several days. If you understand this
going in, you build the flexibility into your schedule. Like we did with the
extra day in Tana, but if you are on a tight schedule, you could be in trouble.
When we landed in Tana our driver was right on time we
returned to our home away from home when we are in Tana and that is La Varangue
hotel, with this being our third stay the staff is getting to know us.
Tomorrow our flight is on Air Austral at 1:35 PM. Air
Austral is the national airline of reunion and is much more reliable than Air Madagascar.
Day 26: 24MAY15: Antananarivo
- Reunion
Air Austral Flight UU612 depart TNR 13:35 to REUNION
Our driver picked us up at right on time and both our drive
to the airport and the check in process were uneventful except one funny
situation. As everybody was waiting for the flight checking to open there was
one Malagasy man with about 5 suite cases going up to each person with minimum
luggage (like us) asking if we would take one of his bags for him.
Air Austral charges you baggage fees based on weight not the
number of pieces. I am sure his luggage was over the weight limit. We quickly
denied his request. He finally found two passengers willing to help him out.
Reunion Island
In all our travels throughout Africa we have always found
airport security significantly lax compared to the U.S. Not that the U.S. Security is
that great. In fact most airports in Madagascar had no security, you
simple walked on the plane. This flight was different we checked our bags as
usually. We went through X-ray and metal detectors like you might in the U.S. Then as we boarded the flight all our checked
bags were laid out on the Tarmac, you had to identify your bag before they
would load it into the baggage compartment. Boy am I glad we did not take that
guys bag for him. Next all our carry on bags were thoroughly hand searched and
we were manually waned with a handheld metal detector before we could board the
flight.
Our flight was uneventful and we landed right on time
4:50PM. Our approach to Reunion was from the Southwest. As we were landing we could see a larger city and beautiful paved roads. This was the city of St. Denis.
On our last landing in Reunion we landed from the Northeast and had a different
impression of Reunion. We had the impression
that Reunion was much less developed than it
actually is. The baggage, rental car process was very efficient. We were on our
way within 20 minutes of landing.
Four our stay in Reunion we
have rented a studio apartment from a fellow named Philippe through Airbnb. One
of the exciting parts of renting through Airbnb, is not just the anticipation
of what the place will be like, but what the host will be like.
Philippe had asked us to meet him at La Rhonda in St. Leu.
It was Sunday evening and Philippe had been out on 2 day trek and thought La
Rhonda would be an easy place to meet. The plan was to meet between 6:00 and
7:00PM.
It was relatively easy to find La Rhonda, a great bar /
Restaurant on the beach. We arrived just a few minutes before 6:00PM. We carry
a mobile phone when we travel and buy SIM cards for that particular country
once we arrive. Once we got settled at La Rhonda, Margarite sat at the bar
making herself look as if she was waiting for someone, while I went in search
of a SIM. My search was a bust, but I found a very nice lady that let me use
her phone to contact Philippe.
We exchanged descriptions and what we were wearing to make
finding each other a bit easier. When I returned to Margarite had already asked
each male at the bar if they were Philippe, with no luck. We had about an hour
to kill before Philippe would arrive so we decided to grab some dinner at a
beach restaurant across the inlet from La Rhonda. We both had a great fish
dinner.
Once we found Philippe and Natasha (Philippe's girl friend).
We enjoyed a drink together and made
the casual introductions. It ends up both
Philippe and Natasha are champion long distance trail runners, both capturing
many international titles.
It was getting late so Philippe offered to show us to the
studio apartment. It was a 30 minute drive from La Rhonda, the first 20 minutes
were easy, we simple took the N1 to the N3, from the N3 we exited onto the
D400. From the D400 it was all a blur, hair pin turns, single lane roads, that
were two way traffic, hills that were 15% plus grades. Philippe lost us a few
time, but kindly waited for us to catch up.
Once we arrived at the house, we found a very private studio
apartment. The apartment had everything we needed for our three day stay. A
fully equipped efficiency kitchen, very comfortable stall shower, and separate
bathroom. The sleeping area was separated from the living area by a curtain
that could be drawn when needed. We also had a private patio with table, lounge
chairs and grill. Philippe offered us to use his pool when every we wanted.
Philippe spent some time with us mapping out our next day's
activities. It was now 10:00 PM so we decided it was time to hit the sack.
Day 27: 25MAY15: Reunion
Philippe had suggested we do the Zabra Trail, Philippe kept
telling us it is 700 meters. We had lost an hour with our trip from Madagascar to Reunion
and ended up sleeping until 8:00AM. Once up we went to the market to provision
for our hike. Philippe and Natasha had suggested and hour up the trail to the
connection point, then take and out and back trail another hour to and scenic
overlook. On the return rather than retrace the zebra trail take the Vers les
Gites trail back to the road where we will rejoin the zebra trail at the start.
All told they felt it should be a four hour hike about 10-12 kilometers. We
were not sure what the 700 meters Philippe had been mentioning meant.
The hike was absolutely beautiful, the high jagged peaks,
covered in mist and ferns glowed the brightest greens when the sun shown
through the clouds. We could see the ocean most of the hike as
well as a few of
the surrounding villages as we climbed above the houses. And climb we did, and
climb, and climb, and climb. At this point our gluts were burning, this hike
was like walking on a stair master on high speed, that was caked in slippery
mud, as beautiful as the hike was it was just as difficult. Many parts we hiked
the ridge line with 1,000 foot drops on either side. Every so often a trail
runner would pass us, whether they were going up or down, they would have
smiles on their faces and be traveling two to three times faster than us.
We finally reached the turn off, the hour estimated time was
two hours. We grabbed a bite to eat and continued on. After a few hundred feet
we decided to turn back, the trail was just a few inches wide with a wall in
one side and shear drop on the other. We finished the hike as suggested
reaching the road after about an hour, that last 6 kilometers were on the road,
but a very steep road it was. Steep down slope, every step fired our gluts. We
were beat! We found out what the 700 meters meant, it was the elevation we
would be climbing. We hiked for 4 hours and 15 minutes. We traveled seven and a
half miles, and we gained over a mile in elevation.
We rushed home as our day was not finished, I needed a
shower as I had falling in the mud a few times and was covered from head to toe
is a red clay mud. We were meeting Philippe and Natasha at 4:00 PM for our
afternoon event.
Once we regrouped we found out we needed warm close as we
would be heading up to 7,500 feet and once the sun went down temperatures would
drop below 45 degrees.
Philippe and Natasha were awesome host lending us clothes,
we had packed for the warm climate of Madagascar not thinking we would
see temperatures below 70 degrees let alone 45 degrees. The plan was to drive
to the volcano, and arrive before sunset, once there, watch the sunset and than
take an "EASY" walk (per Philippe and Natasha) to see the lava flow.
The last time the volcano erupted was 7 years ago, but
Philippe arranged an eruption during our stay.
Clearly Natasha had gone to the
Mario Andretti driving school, I had no idea a little car like hers could go so
fast and handle the turns the way she took them. We did arrive in one piece,
just in time to see the sunset.
Now for the "EASY" walk to the lava flow /
eruption. The trail was very crowded, I
guess this makes sense it is not like the volcano erupts everyday. Philippe
defines an easy walk as a trail run with just a few ascents and descents.
Luckily for Margarite, her and Natasha got caught up in picture taking so their
pace was a bit slower than ours. As we got within 2 kilometers for the eruption
the sky glowed a bright orange red, as we got closer we could see lava being
shot into the air.
We decided to take a break and wait for the ladies, the
timing could not been better, also some how Philippe knew I was starting to
suffer from starvation. He offered me a ham sandwich, best ham sandwich ever,
and a drink. It took the ladies about 20 minutes to catch up to us. While the
temperature had dropped, with the speed we had been walking I was hot. The
short break allowed me to cool down.
The four of us were off to the races again, the trail was
covered with small and medium size lava rocks, making it fun as you rolled your
ankles every few steps. Philippe and Natasha got a few hundred yards ahead as
we got caught up in traffic, yes the trail was that crowded. Once we got within
1 kilometer of the eruption we decided we had the perfect vantage point for
photos. We took many!
The hike back made the hike there seem like a walk in the
park, Margarite and I had to run every time we were on a flat surface just to
stay close to Philippe and Natasha. It took us 2 hours to get out to the
eruption and one hour to get back, 12 kilometers covered on the "easy
walk". Margarite and I hiked over
24 kilometers for the day gaining somewhere around 6,000 feet.
What a great couple Philippe and Natasha, they just met us,
and they are giving up there time to show us around and plan our days.
Day 28: 26MAY15: Reunion
Philippe set us up on a great drive and hike. His personal
must beautiful place on the island. We were to drive to Ciloas which Philippe
thoughts would takes us and hour, once there he suggested we hike to Mufti the
hikes rises 700 meters and then descends 300 meters to Mufti a small village
that can only be accessed by hiking or helicopter.
The drive to Ciloas was as, if not more, beautiful than what
Philippe described. What he did not describe was the roads, while all the roads
in Reunion are very well paved, there is not
one road that is straight, flat, or wide enough for two cars at once, yet most
are two way roads. The road to Ciloas is no exception, hair pin turns, create a
hair raising drive. If it would have just been us on the road the drive would
of been easy, it was when the buses were coming down the steep grade and we are
going up, both hitting the hair pin turn at the same time. Well, there was no
way a bus is going to back up, into reverse I would reverse, hoping all my
wheels stayed on the road.
With all the negatives, it was an absolutely gorgeous drive.
Just like our hike the drives took twice as
long at it would of taken Philippe.
We arrived in Ciloas around 11:00 AM and walked around the town before grabbing
some lunch. Every time we got into or out of the car our gluts would yell out
us for torturing them the day before, yes we were both sore.
We still had a 10 kilometer drive to the trail head for our
hike, another beautiful drive, water falls everywhere. Once we got to the trail
head a decision that had been nagging us all day was answered. Can we do this
hike feeling as sore as we feel.
There standing at the trail head was a set of stairs at
least 100 steps tall, but most likely taller, the stairs turned moving out of
view. We both looked at each other and got back into the car and continued
enjoying the beautiful views.
We had offered to take Philippe and Natasha out to dinner as
a thank you for all they had done for us. We met up along the beach in the town
of Saint-Pierre.
First we walked out on the public pier to take pictures of the sunset. It is
winter time so the sunsets about an hour earlier than in the summer time.
We enjoyed a drink at a restaurant bar that was converted
from the original train station. In the 1960's all the trains on reunion were
replaced by highways and cars.
After our drinks we had a great dinner and grew our
friendship with Natasha and Philippe.
Day 29: 27MAY15: Reunion - America
Today we depart, we have a flight at 4:50PM we decided we
would bisect the island from west to east to allow us to see the east side of Reunion. The ride across was beautiful we learned there
is a great deal of agriculture in the center of the island. As we approached Arrondissement
of Saint-Benoit we saw a completely different Reunion
than the one we had just spent two beautiful days at. This reunion was much
more industrial and the homes looked of lower value.
We spent an hour looking for a restaurant we thought we
would enjoy, finally finding a park that had a group of food trucks. We had a
fantastic meal prepared by two of the most friendliest people we had met. What a fun time.
After lunch we took a tour of a vanilla factory. This was
very educational. We had no idea the preparation and years that go into the
preparation of vanilla it could take up to five years to get the vanilla just
right. As the factory tour ended, so did the final phase of our trip. We headed
to the ReunionIslandAirport
for our flight, where to, who knows.
2) Refill my travel kitty (win some money playing poker) 
One Airline that I fly often along with it's partners is American Airlines. I have been flying with them since August 11th, 1987 at least that is what my account says. Since that time I have flown 1,170,188 miles. There have been 10,358 days since August 11th, 1987. What this means is in the last 28 plus years I have flown about 113 miles a day, every day and that is just this one airline. Another way you can look at it is I have flown about 42,000 miles a year every year for the last 28 years on this one airline. Better yet, at the equator the earth is just under 25,000 miles around. In the last 28 years I have flown the equivalent of 47 times around the world.
same 28 years, but many of those miles were bonus miles.
Why travel to Vegas on Tuesday December 15th, 2015. When can one have the opportunity to meet 15 politicians at one time. Yes, the republican debate was happening in Vegas. Luckily by winning at poker I was moved into the VIP section of the hotel and got invited to see part of the debate. Why just part, not to get to political but the debate reminded of a KKK meeting and a quote from Mark Twin. "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime." I think a few of the candidates in the debate need to travel more. I was getting sick watching the debate so I decided to leave.
working on 2,000,000 base miles.
One Airline that I fly often along with it's partners is American Airlines. I have been flying with them since August 11th, 1987 at least that is what my account says. Since that time I have flown 1,170,188 miles. There have been 10,358 days since August 11th, 1987. What this means is in the last 28 plus years I have flown about 113 miles a day, every day and that is just this one airline. Another way you can look at it is I have flown about 42,000 miles a year every year for the last 28 years on this one airline. Better yet, at the equator the earth is just under 25,000 miles around. In the last 28 years I have flown the equivalent of 47 times around the world.
